Textila 2 2012revistaindustriatextila.ro/images/Textila_nr_6_2016_web.pdf · 2019-08-08 ·...

IndustriaTextila

ISSN 1222–5347

6/2016

Recunoscutã în România, în domeniul ªtiinþelor inginereºti, de cãtre Consiliul Naþional al Cercetãrii ªtiinþifice din Învãþãmântul Superior

(C.N.C.S.I.S.), în grupa A /Aknowledged in Romania, in the engineering sciences domain,

by the National Council of the Scientific Research from the Higher Education (CNCSIS), in group A

COLEGIULDE REDACTIE:

Dr. ing. CARMEN GHIŢULEASACS I – DIRECTOR GENERAL

Institutul Naţional de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Textile şi Pielărie – Bucureşti

Dr. ing. EMILIA VISILEANUCS I – EDITOR ŞEF

Institutul Naţional de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Textile şi Pielărie – Bucureşti

Conf. univ. dr. ing. MARIANA URSACHEDECAN

Facultatea de Textile-Pielărieşi Management Industrial, Universitatea

Tehnică „Ghe. Asachi“ – Iaşi

Prof. dr. GELU ONOSECS I

Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie„Carol Davila“ – Bucureşti

Prof. dr. ing. ERHAN ÖNERMarmara University – Turcia

Prof. dr. ing. CRIŞAN POPESCURWTH – Aachen – Germania

Prof. univ. dr. DOINA I. POPESCUAcademia de Studii Economice – Bucureşti

Prof. univ. dr. ing. CARMEN LOGHINUniversitatea Tehnică „Ghe. Asachi“ – Iaşi

Prof. univ. dr. MARGARETA STELEA FLORESCUAcademia de Studii Economice – Bucureşti

Prof. ing. ARISTIDE DODUMembru de onoare al Academiei de Ştiinţe

Tehnice din România

Prof. dr. ing. LUIS ALMEIDAUniversity of Minho – Portugal

Prof. dr. LUCIAN CONSTANTIN HANGANUUniversitatea Tehnică „Ghe. Asachi“ – Iaşi

MUHAMMAD ZUBAIR, TANVEER HUSSAIN, ADNAN MAZARI, SAJID HUSSAINDezvoltarea țesăturilor din amestec poliester/celuloză pentru un confortmai bun 359–364J. HONG, S. JIANG, X. YANProprietățile de absorbție acustică ale compozitelor din HXNBR/FHHPFcu materiale nețesute interțesute laminate din poliester cu lumen 365–374ELENA-CRISTINA BERBECAR-ZECA, ELENA-LUMINIŢA STĂNCIULESCU,ALEXANDRU CHIOTOROIU, IOANA MARINA GRINŢESCUUlcerul de presiune în unitățile de terapie intensivă și utilizareabiomaterialelor 375–379VIRGINIJA SACEVIČIENĖ, MILDA JUCIENĖ, LORETA ŠVEIKAUSKAITĖInfluenţa efectelor mecanice asupra proprietăţilor hidrofobice alematerialelor acoperite 380–386OKSAN ORALStudiu asupra proprietăților de confort termic al țesăturilor textile dinfibre celulozice 387–391STELIAN PANTEA, DIANA UTU, CRISTIAN IORGA, IUSTINIAN BENGULESCU,VICTOR STRAMBU, ALEXANDRU CHIOTOROIUAccesul vascular de urgență printr-un cateter venos iliac tunelat.Raport cu 2 cazuri 392–395MEHMET DAYIK, OĞUZ ÇOLAK, HAKAN YÜKSELSistem virtual de probare a îmbrăcămintei în timp real 396–401M. FRYDRYSIAK, L. TESIOROWSKISenzori capacitivi de umiditate integrați în textile prin tehnica de imprimare 402–406SABINA OLARU, ALEXANDRA MOCENCO, GEORGETA POPESCU,CLAUDIA NICULESCU, ADRIAN SĂLIȘTEANCaracteristici antropometrice regionale ale populaţiei adulte din Româniaşi aspecte privind portul popular specific 407–412DACINIA CRINA PETRESCU, FLORINA BRAN, ILDIKO IOAN,CARMEN VALENTINA RĂDULESCUEticheta de pe îmbrăcăminte și eticheta ecologică: o oportunitate pierdutăsau un instrument puternic pe piață? 413–419OCTAVIAN ION NEGOITA, ALEXANDRA ANCA PURCAREA,OLIVIA DOINA NEGOITA, CARMEN GHITULEASAModelul de îmbunătăţire continuă a procesului de branding – cheiaspre o comunicare eficientă în industria textilă din Romania 420–427SIMONA CĂTĂLINA ȘTEFAN, ADRIANA GIURGIU, MARIA-MADELA ABRUDAN,DAN MIRICESCU, CRISTINA VLĂSCEANUDe ce este necesară dezvoltarea strategiilor globale de către companiilede T&C? Dovezi empirice cu privire la influența strategiei globale asupracompetitivității și performanțelor organizaţiei 428–433

Editatã în 6 nr./an, indexatã ºi recenzatã în:Edited in 6 issues per year, indexed and abstracted in:

Science Citation Index Expanded (SciSearch®), Materials ScienceCitation Index®, Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, World Textile

Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts, VINITI, Scopus, Toga FIZ technikProQuest Central

Revistã cotatã ISI ºi inclusã în Master Journal List a Institutului pentruªtiinþa Informãrii din Philadelphia – S.U.A., începând cu vol. 58, nr. 1/2007/ISI rated magazine, included in the ISI Master Journal List of the Instituteof Science Information, Philadelphia, USA, starting with vol. 58, no. 1/2007

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357industria textila 2016, vol. 67, nr. 6˘


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428

Development of polyester/cellulosic blend woven fabric for better comfort

Sound absorption properties of HXNBR/FHHPF composite with needle-punched hollowpolyester nonwoven laminated materials

Pressure ulcer in the ICU and the use of biomaterials

The influence of mechanical effects on coated textile hydrophobic properties

An investigation on the thermal comfort properties of textiles fabrics madeof cellulose-based fibers

Emergency vascular access through a cuffed iliac vein catheter. A report of 2 cases

Real-time virtual clothes try-on system

Textile capacitive humidity sensors made by printing technique

Regional anthropometric characteristics of the adult population in Romania and aspectsconcerning specific folk costumes

Clothing label and ecological label: a missed opportunity or a powerful tool in themarketplace?

The model of continuous improvement of branding process – the key towards an efficientcommunication within Romanian textile industry

Why T&C companies need to develop global strategies? Empirical evidences on theinfluence of the organization's global strategy on its competitiveness and performances

EDITORIAL STAFF

Editor-in-chief: Dr. eng. Emilia VisileanuGraphic designer: Florin Prisecarue-mail: [email protected]

Scientific reviewers for the papers published in this number :

Contents

Journal edited in colaboration with Editura AGIR , 118 Calea Victoriei, sector 1, Bucharest, tel./fax: 021-316.89.92; 021-316.89.93; e-mail: [email protected], www.edituraagir.ro

CHENHONG LONG – Institute for Frontier Materials, GTP Research Deakin University, Australia

AMINODDIN HAJI – Department of Textile Engineering Birjand Branch Islamic Azad University, Iran

KAI MENG – College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, People’s Republic of China

LUCIAN GRAMA – „Petru Maior" University, Târgu-Mureş, Romania

CLAUDIA NICULESCU – The Research and Development National Institute for Textile and Leather, Romania

NICOLAE POP – Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

TOADER RITA – Baia Mare North University, Romania

MUHAMMAD ZUBAIR,TANVEER HUSSAIN, ADNAN MAZARI,SAJID HUSSAIN

J. HONG, S. JIANG, X. YAN

ELENA-CRISTINA BERBECAR-ZECA,ELENA-LUMINIŢA STĂNCIULESCU,ALEXANDRU CHIOTOROIU,IOANA MARINA GRINŢESCU

VIRGINIJA SACEVIČIENĖ,MILDA JUCIENĖ,LORETA ŠVEIKAUSKAITĖ

OKSAN ORAL

STELIAN PANTEA, DIANA UTU,CRISTIAN IORGA,IUSTINIAN BENGULESCU,VICTOR STRAMBU,ALEXANDRU CHIOTOROIUMEHMET DAYIK, OĞUZ ÇOLAK, HAKAN YÜKSELM. FRYDRYSIAK, L. TESIOROWSKI

SABINA OLARU, ALEXANDRA MOCENCO,GEORGETA POPESCU,CLAUDIA NICULESCU,ADRIAN SĂLIȘTEANDACINIA CRINA PETRESCU,FLORINA BRAN, ILDIKO IOAN,CARMEN VALENTINA RĂDULESCUOCTAVIAN ION NEGOITA,ALEXANDRA ANCA PURCAREA,OLIVIA DOINA NEGOITA,CARMEN GHITULEASASIMONA CĂTĂLINA ȘTEFAN, ADRIANA GIURGIU, MARIA-MADELA ABRUDAN, DAN MIRICESCU, CRISTINA VLĂSCEANU

INTRODUCTIONThe word “textile” arises from the texture whichmeans to weave. Barburk and Masajtis stated thatwoven fabric structures are flat materials used tomanufacture garments, technical, decorative andsome special products [1]. Lord and Mohameddescribed that woven fabric is produced by interlac-ing of warp and weft yarns and are more durable andsuitable for garment production due to flexibility incutting [2]. The coarser fabrics are more durable thanfiner which may stretch or cause pilling. The flexibili-ty is the basic requirement of woven constructions.There are many materials which are thin and flexiblebut have poor drape and rough appearance. Sulzerstated that the fibre and yarn flexibility are importantproperties which affect the flexibility of woven fabrics.M. H Malik et al. stated that strength of woven fabricis unique property which makes them distinguishedfrom non-woven and knitted structures [3–4].All types of fabrics for clothing should possess goodcomfort and performance. The term comfort isdefined as “the absence of unpleasantness or dis-comfort” or “a neutral state compared to the more

active state of pleasure”. A pleasant state of psycho-logical, physiological and physical harmony betweenhuman being and environment is known as comfort.Comfort and performance are key parameters for thework wear fabrics and many textile scientists havedone work to improve these properties of woven workwear fabrics [5]. Air permeability, water vapor permeability and mois-ture management are important comfort properties ofwoven fabrics. Moisture management is ability of fab-ric to transport, store and disperse off liquid waterreleased from body. It is also defined as controlledmovement of water from surface of body to atmo-sphere through fabrics [6]. The air permeability of thewoven fabrics can be controlled during productdesign by raw material properties (fiber type andblend ratio), yarn characteristics and structuralparameters of the woven fabrics [7]. The moisture flow through fabric is the most impor-tant factor for physiological comfort. The hydrophilicmaterials are good moisture absorbers. Tests wereconducted by many types of blends of hydrophobicand hydrophilic fibers. It was noted that water per-meability increased with the increasing amount of


MUHAMMAD ZUBAIR ADNAN MAZARITANVEER HUSSAIN SAJID HUSSAIN

REZUMAT – ABSTRACT

Dezvoltarea țesăturilor din amestec poliester/celuloză pentru un confort mai bun

În acest articol, au fost investigate experimental efectele firelor de bătătură asupra proprietăților de confort ale țesăturilorpentru îmbrăcămintea de lucru. În această lucrare de cercetare, nouă fire de bătătură diferite cu aceleași densități liniareşi amestecuri fibroase diferite au fost utilizate pentru realizarea țesăturilor. Rezultatele studiului arată că fibra de bambusare o permeabilitate maximă la aer, iar fibra modal și amestecurile ei au proprietăți de management al umidității maibune, în grupul G-1, în timp ce fibra 100% PES prezintă o permeabilitate mai mare la aer și un management al umiditățiiîn grupul G-2. Atunci când au fost comparate proprietățile de revenire din șifonare ale grupurilor G-1 și G-2, fibrele modalși PES au prezentat proprietăți mai bune de revenire din șifonare datorită lungimii de încovoiere mai mici. Dintre toatecele nouă mostre de țesături, țesătura produsă din modal și bambus în direcția bătăturii a prezentat cele mai buneproprietăți de confort în ceea ce privește permeabilitatea la aer, managementul umidității, rigiditatea și revenirea dinșifonare.

Cuvinte-cheie: materiale ale firelor de bătătură, țesături, permeabilitate la aer, managementul umidității, ANOVA,lungime de încovoiere, revenire din șifonare


In this article, the effects of weft yarn materials on comfort properties of work wear woven fabrics are experimentallyinvestigated. In this research work, nine different filling yarns of the same linear densities with different blend in pure andmix are used for production of woven fabrics. The results of the research show that bamboo has maximum airpermeability and modal & its blend exhibit better moisture management properties in group G-1, whereas 100 % PESshows higher air permeability and moisture management in group G-2. When we compare crease recovery propertiesof group G-1and G-2, modal and PES show better crease recovery due to their low bending length. Among the ninewoven fabric samples the fabric produced from modal and bamboo in weft direction exhibited the best comfort propertieswith respect to air permeability, moisture management, stiffness and crease recovery.

Keywords: weft yarn materials, woven fabrics, air permeability, moisture management, ANOVA, bending length, creaserecovery


hydrophilic component in the blend but the adverseeffect was that moisture transport decreased with theincrease in the hydrophilic groups. The most com-monly used blends are polyester/viscose, wool/poly -ester, and polyester/cotton in garment production [8].Studies of E-Sema reveal that cellulosic and poly -ester blended fabrics give better liquid absorptionand transport efficiency [9]. Good moisture manage-ment means quick absorption and release of mois-ture, which give better level of comfort. Synthetic fiberslike polyester do not attach water and do not get wetgiving better release simultaneously. 100% cottonand 100 % polyester both do not give satisfactorymoisture management but the blending of both pro-duces satisfactory results of moisture management.In this research different woven structures are pro-duced by changing the different blends of cellulosematerial with polyester fiber so that a better blendmay be developed for work wear woven fabric in dif-ferent seasons.

EXPERIMENTAL PARTMaterial: Polyester/cotton (60:40) blended yarn with29.53 tex linear density was used for fabric warp and36.91 tex yarns with different blend ratios and mate-rials were used in weft direction to develop nine dif-ferent fabric samples. The blend ratio of weft yarns isgiven in the table 1.Nine different grey fabric samples with 29.53 tex warpand 36.91 tex weft respectively and 45 ends/cm and25 picks/cm were woven in 2/1 S-twill design with160 cm width on Picanol Omni air jet loom using thematerial given in the table 1. Method: All samples were produced on air jetPicanol Omni Plus weaving machine in Be Be Janweaving unit limited Faisalabad. The machine wasequipped with the tappet shedding mechanism andrunning at 1200 meters per minute. The weft waschanged for the sample production with differenttypes of nine weft yarn materials as given in thetable 1. The fabric samples were produced in con-trolled atmospheric condition, relative humidity 76 %and temperature 26°C. The de-sizing and bleachingprocesses were performed in the processing lab inNational Textile University Faisalabad.

The de-sizing, bleaching and scouring of greysamples were performed according to the chemicalsand conditions given in the table 2.All the processed woven fabric samples were condi-tioned before testing and characterization. Fabricareal density was determined according to ASTM-3776. Fabric stiffness was determined according toASTM-BS3356. Fabric thickness was measuredaccording to ASTM-D1777. Fabric air permeabilitywas determined according to ISO 9237 using SDL-Atlas permeability tester. Fabric moisture manage-ment properties were determined according toAATCC Test method 195, using SDL-Atlas moisturemanagement tester. Fabric crease recovery wasdetermined according to BS-5690 using creaserecovery tester.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe properties of the weft yarn used in different fabricsamples are given in the table 3.The mean value of the physical parameters of thefabric samples are given in the table 4.All the processed woven fabric were measured fortheir comfort properties i.e., air permeability, moisturemanagement, fabric stiffness and bending length.The results of each parameter are discussed as follow.


CHEMICALS FOR DESIZING AND SETTINGS

Parameters Units De-sizing Scouring BleachingEnzyme De-sizer ml/l 2 - -Wetting agent g/l 1 2 1NaOH g/l - - 4Detergent g/l - 2 -Sequestering agent g/l - - 2Stablizer g/l - - 2L:R - 8:1 - -pH % 6.5 - 10~10.5Temperature oC 50~60 80~90 80~90Time Hr. 0.75 1 1

Table 2

WEFT MATERIALS FOR FABRIC

Sr.# Samplecode Description

1. 100 % B 100 % bamboo

2. 100 % CC 100 % combed cotton

3. 100 % M 100 % Modal®

4. 100 % P 100 % Polyester

5. B:C (50:50) 50 % bamboo and 50 % cotton

6. M:C(70:30) 70 % Modal® and 30 % cotton

7. PC (52:48) 52 % polyester and 48 % cotton

8. Hollow P 20 % hollow polyester and 80 % cotton

9. L:C(55:45) 55 % linen and 45 % cotton

Table 1

Effect of weft material on air permeabilityThe mean values of air permeability and over allmoisture management are listed in the table 5. One way ANOVA was performed in order to deter-mine the statistical significance of weft material on airpermeability. P-values and R-Sq values from ANOVAare given in table 6. A P-value of less than 0.05 forany air permeability value indicates that the effect ofweft material is statistically significant on that prop -erty, with 95% confidence level. R-Sq indicates thepercentage change in air permeability that can bedescribed by change in the weft yarn properties. The

higher the R-Sq value of a property, the higher is thedependence of that property on the weft yarn material.The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicates that theweft material has highly significant effect on air per-meability of woven structures. The effect of each weft material on air permeability isshown in the figure 1. All the samples were producedon the same loom with same construction but due tovariation in material properties the samples behavedifferently. If we compare the five samples in groupG-1, all of the fabrics samples have almost same fab-ric weight and thread count, among these samplesbamboo has highest value of air permeability due to


AIR PERMEABILITY & MOISTURE MANAGEMENT

Group MaterialFabricweight(g/m2)

Fiberdensity(g/cm3)

Yarndensity(g/cm3)

Fabricdensity(g/cm3)

Porosity(%)

Airpermeability

(ml/sec)OMMC

G-1 B:C (50:50) 244.8 1.45 0.85 0.48 66.85 22.6 0.519100 % B 242.86 1.42 0.83 0.45 67.68 30.8 0.507

Modal 242.15 1.47 0.87 0.47 67.59 27.0 0.565Hollow P 241.83 1.46 0.87 0.48 66.96 21.6 0.556

M:C (70:30) 241.5 1.45 0.87 0.48 66.68 22.6 0.567G-2 100 % CC 234.66 1.50 0.87 0.46 68.77 28.4 0.557

P:C (52:48) 233.86 1.46 0.86 0.48 66.72 24.8 0.591L:C (55:45) 233.7 1.38 0.86 0.47 67.67 28.8 0.557

100 % P 229.6 1.44 0.84 0.46 68.10 30.2 0.597

Table 5

WEFT YARN PROPERTIES

Group Material Count (tex) Breakingforce (cN)

Tenacity(cN/tex) Elongation

G-1 B:C (50:50) 34.74 455.9 13.12 5.9100 % B 36.91 358.9 9.72 10.3Modal 36.91 947.4 25.67 10.65

Hollow P 36.91 637.8 17.28 5.48M:C (70:30) 36.91 704.7 19.10 8.5

G-2 100 % CC 34.74 632.2 18.20 5.81P:C (52:48) 34.74 755.1 21.74 8.81L:C (55:45) 34.74 437.4 12.59 4.01

100 % P 34.74 772.2 22.23 14.84

Table 3

FABRIC CONSTRUCTIONAL COMMPONENTS

Group Material Fabric width(cm)

Fabric weight(g/m2)

Thickness(mm)

Warp crimp(%)

Weft crimp(%)

G-1 B:C (50:50) 58.5 244.8 0.51 16.77 6.37100 % B 59.25 242.86 0.51 18.7 6.92

Modal 57.25 242.15 0.51 14.56 8.48Hollow P 59.00 241.83 0.51 18.18 6.22

M:C (70:30) 59.00 241.5 0.50 15.38 7.9G-2 100 % CC 60.50 234.66 0.50 18.74 6.73

P:C (52:48) 59.50 233.86 0.48 16.69 6.81L:C (55:45) 60.90 233.7 0.49 17.48 7.28

100 % P 60.25 229.6 0.50 18.26 6.61

Table 4

its least value of fiber density, yarn density and high-er fabric porosity. The bamboo fiber has also specificcross section shape and pores in the inner side sodue to air gaps and micro holes the air flow wasobserved better in this yarn. The four samples in group G-2 have less fabricweight and low thread density than group G-1. Thepolyester due to its low fiber density and least fabricweight produces highest value of air permeability dueto its uniform circular cross section of fiber. The cot-ton and linen both have approximately equal porosityand air permeability due the shape of the fibers.

Effect of weft material on moisture managementThe moisture management properties of nine sam-ples were tested and the mean of five values for over-all moisture management capability in case of eachsample are reported in the table 5. The analysis ofvariance reveals that the effect of weft material onOMMC is statistically significant with 95 % confi-dence level i.e., P-value < 0.05 in the table 7.The effect of weft material is shown in the figure 2, itis clear from the figure that the Modal® and its blendwith cotton and hollow polyester yarn from groupG-1, produced higher OMMC while100 % polyesterand its blend with cotton from G-2, produced highestOMMC value. The Modal® fiber has good absorptionas well as air permeability so it produced higheroverall moisture management properties. The higherOMMC of polyester and its blend might be due to itsbetter wicking properties.

Effect of weft material on bending lengthThe mean values for fabric bending length are listedin the table 8 with some physical properties likethread density, GSM and crimp. The effect of materialon bending length of woven fabric is shown in thefigure 3.

It is clear from ANOVA that the weft material hasstatistically significant effect on bending length inwarp and weft direction due to p-value is less than0.01 with 99 % confidence level as shown in thetables 9 and 10.If we compare the bending length among the weftmaterials in group G-1, the hollow polyester yarnshows highest bending length due to the hollow andround cross sectional shape and low yarn elongation% age, while the Modal® and its blend produced lessbending length than other materials in this group dueto the low fineness of the modal fiber (1.3 dtex) andhigher elongation % age, so it has better drape. If wesee the group G-2 the first three materials havesimilar bending length while the 100 % polyesterfabric has least bending length due to the solid fibercross section and also due to very high elongation %age of polyester yarn in this group. More over thepolyester fiber is finer (1.2–1.3 den) than others solow bending stiffness than other samples in thisgroup. The linen and 100 % combed cotton fabricshow higher bending length that might be due to the


Fig. 2. Effect of weft material on OMMC

Fig. 3. Effect of weft material on bending length

ANOVA FOR AIR PEREMEABILITYSource DF SS MS F PFactor 9 1268.82 140.98 122.59 0.000Error 40 46.00 1.15Total 49 1314.82

Table 6

* S = 1.072 R-Sq = 96.50% R-Sq (adj) = 95.71%

Fig. 1. Effect of weft material on air permeability

ANOVA FOR OMMCSource DF SS MS F PFactor 09 0.040939 0.004549 10.36 0.000Error 40 0.017562 0.000489Total 49 0.058501

Table 7

* S = 0.02095 R-Sq = 83.98% R-Sq(adj) = 89.23%

coarser fiber, their higher modulus and profiled crosssectional shape and low elongation % age.

Effect of weft material on crease recoveryThe mean values for fabric crease recovery are listedin the table 11 with some physical properties likethread density, fabric weight and crimp. The effect ofweft material on crease recovery of woven fabricspecimen is shown in the figure 4.The analysis of variance reveals that the effect ofweft material on crease recovery is statistically signif-icant with 95 % confidence level (P-value < 0.05,table 12).It is evident from the figure 4 that the fabric wovenwith Modal® yarn produced higher crease recoveryin group G-1 due to the highest elongation of Modal®yarn while B:C (50:50) and hollow polyester haveleast crease recovery due to low elongation of these

yarns. The polyester and the its blend produced bestcrease recovery among all materials and among theirgroup G-2 due to their better elongation % age while


EFFECT OF WEFT MATERIAL ON CREASE RECOVERY

Group Material epc /ppc Fabric weight(g/m2)

Weft elongation(%)

CR warp(deg)

CR weft(deg)

CR (warp+weft)(deg)

G-1 B:C (50:50) 47.5/24.4 244.8 5.90 77.50 69.00 147100 % B 48.4/24.4 242.86 10.3 86.00 96.00 182Modal 46.8/24.4 242.15 10.65 91.00 102.5 193.5

Hollow P 46.4/24.8 241.83 5.48 71.5 82.00 153.5M:C (70:30) 46.4/24.8 241.5 8.50 74.0 98.50 172.5

G-2 100 % CC 45.6/24.4 234.66 5.81 72.0 89.00 161.00P:C (52:48) 47.2/24.0 233.86 8.81 89.83 95.66 185.0L:C (55:45) 47.2/24.4 233.7 4.01 99.33 71.00 170.0

100 % P 46.0/24.0 229.6 14.84 86.00 112.5 199.0

Table 11

EFFECT OF WEFT MATERIAL ON BENDING LENGTH

Group Material epc/ppc Fabric weight(g/m2)

Crimp%

BL warp(cm)

BL weft(cm)

BL(warp+weft)cm

G-1 B:C (50:50) 47.5/24.4 244.8 6.37 2.8 2.64 5.44100 % B 48.4/24.4 242.86 8.42 2.45 2.59 5.04Modal 46.8/24.4 242.15 6.92 2.34 2.39 4.73

Hollow P 46.4/24.8 241.83 6.22 2.80 3.10 5.90M:C (70:30) 46.4/24.8 241.5 7.90 2.33 2.31 4.64

G-2 100 % CC 45.6/24.4 234.66 6.73 2.55 2.66 5.21P:C (52:48) 47.2/24.0 233.86 6.81 2.70 2.39 5.09L:C (55:45) 47.2/24.4 233.7 7.28 2.40 2.66 5.06

100 % P 46.0/24.0 229.6 6.61 2.44 2.16 4.60

Table 8

ANOVA FOR WARP BENDING LENGTHSource DF SS MS F PFactor 09 2.05077 0.22786 30.54 0.000Error 40 0.29848 0.00746Total 49

Table 9

* S = 0.08638 R-Sq = 87.29% R-Sq(adj) = 84.44%

ANOVA FOR WEFT BENDING LENGTHSource DF SS MS F PFactor 9 2.93074 0.32564 129.43 0.000Error 40 0.10064 0.00252Total 49 3.03138

Table 10

* S = 0.05016 R-Sq = 96.68% R-Sq(adj) = 95.93%

Fig. 4. Effect of weft material on crease recovery

the cotton and linen both have less crease recoverydue to low elongation % age as shown in the table 3.

CONCLUSIONFabric comprising 100 % bamboo yarn in weftdirection among group G-1 produced better air flowdue to specific cross sectional shape, air gaps andmicro holes. All samples in group G-2 have lessfabric weight and low thread density than group G-1.The fabrics comprising polyester yarn in weft givehighest value of air permeability due to uniformcircular cross section of fiber and low fiber density.Fabric comprising Modal® and its blend with cottonfrom group G-1, produced higher OMMC while100 %polyester and its blend with cotton from G-2,produced highest OMMC value. The Modal® fiberhas good absorption as well as air permeability so itproduced higher overall moisture managementproperties. The higher OMMC of polyester and itsblend might be due to its better wicking properties.

If we compare the bending length among the weftmaterials in group G-1, the fabric made from hollowpolyester yarns show highest bending length due tothe hollow and round cross sectional shape and lowyarn elongation % age, while the modal and its blendproduced less bending length than other materials inthis group due to the low fineness of the Modal® fiberand higher elongation % age, so has better drapeand hand value arising the good comfort properties.If we see the group G-2 the first three materials havesimilar bending length while the 100 % P has leastbending length due to the solid fiber cross sectionand also due to very high elongation % age ofpolyester yarn in this group. More over the polyesterfiber is finer than others so low bending length thanother samples in this group. The linen and 100 % CCshow higher bending length that might be due to thecoarser fiber, their higher modulus and profiled crosssectional shape and low elongation % age. It is evident that the fabric woven with the modal yarnproduced higher crease recovery in group G-1 due tothe highest elongation of modal yarn while B:C(50:50) and hollow polyester have least creaserecovery due to low elongation of these yarns asshown in the table 11. The polyester and its blendproduced best crease recovery among all materialsand among their group G-2 due to their better elon-gation % age while the cotton and linen both possesslow crease recovery due to less elongation % age.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] M. Barburski and J. Masajtis, Modeling of the change structure of woven fabric under mechanical loading, In: Fibersand Textiles in Eastern Europe, vol.17, no. 1 (72), pp. 39–44, March 2009.

[2] P. R. Loard and M. H. Mohamed, Weaving conversion of yarn to fabric, In: Merrow Technical Library, TextileTechnology, pp.1–8.

[3] Sulzer, Fabric structure, properties and testing, In: Sulzer Textile Limited Switzerland, pp. 361–373, 2001.[4] M. H. Malik, T. Hussain, Z. A. Malik, Effect of fabric count on the tensile strength of blended woven fabrics, In:

Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 23–29, July 2009. [5] K. Slater, The assessment of comfort, In: Journal of Textile Institute, pp. 157–171, vol. 77, 1986.[6] M. Wallace, 100 % Cotton moisture management, In: Journal of Textile and Apparel Technology and Management,

vol. 2, no. 3, Summer 2002.[7] L. Hristian, Researches concerning the air permeability of woven fabrics made from combed yarns type wool, In:

Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics, vol. 57, no. 61, pp. 29–37, July, 2011.[8] B. Das and A. Das, Moisture flow through blended fabrics and effect of hydrophilicity, In: Journal of Engineered

Fibers and Fabrics, pp. 20–27, 2009.[9] E. Sema and Suleman, Comparison of moisture transport properties of the various woven fabrics, Tekstil ve

Konfeksiyon, pp. 93–100, February 2010.

Authors:

MUHAMMAD ZUBAIR1

ADNAN AHMED MAZARI1

TANVEER HUSSAIN2

SAJID HUSSAIN1

1 Technical University of Liberec, Faculty of TextileEngineering

Department of Textile Technology, Studentska 2,Liberec,

461 17, Czech Republic

2 National Textile University, Faculty of TextileEngineering,

Department Textile Processing, Sheikhupura road,Faisalabad

Punjab, Pakistan

Corresponding author:

MUHAMMAD ZUBAIR, ADNAN AHMED MAZARIe-mail: [email protected];

[email protected]

ANOVA FOR FABRIC CREASE RECOVERYSource DF SS MS F PFactor 8 6200 775 6.04 0.000Error 36 4619 128Total 44 10819

Table 12

* S = 11.33 R-Sq = 84.30% R-Sq(adj) = 87.81%

INTRODUCTIONRubber as a kind of viscoelastic polymer which canperfectly transform the absorbed energy into heat,especially the synthetic rubber that can be used assound absorbing material [1–2]. Synthetic fibres intextile as flexible materials also have viscoelasticproperty can be used as sound absorption materialthrough viscous effect, thermal conductivity and self-vibration to consume acoustic energy [3–5]. And onespecial characteristic of the hollow synthetic fibre is ithas a larger quantity of still air which makes it havebetter consuming ability of the acoustic energy. Theapplication of hollow synthetic fibre in this field willachieve better results. However, nonwoven form isused more in actual research and application [6–7].Few studies have been done on synthetic fibre rein-forced rubber composite in sound absorption material

filed. Jiang et al. fabricated chlorinated polyethylene(CPE)/seven-hole polyester fiber (SHPF) compos-ites, the effect of fiber content and material thicknesson the sound absorption property and the effect offiber content on mechanical property were studied[8]. When the composite thickness was 1 mm withfiber content 20%, the sound absorption coefficientwas 0.42 at 2500 Hz and tensile breaking tenacitywas 12.73 Mpa with elongation of 16.12%. With 20%SHPF proportion the sound absorption coefficient at2500 Hz reached to 0.695 when increased the com-posite thickness to 3mm. Zhou et al. fabricatedreclaimed rubber/seven-hole polyester fibre (SHPF)composites [9]. The sound absorption coefficient was0.407 at 2500 Hz when the composite thickness was1 mm with fiber content 20%, and tensile breakingtenacity was 11 Mpa with elongation of 44.12%. Inaddition, relevant research documents of hollow


Sound absorption properties of HXNBR/FHHPF composite withneedle-punched hollow polyester nonwoven laminated materials

J. HONG S. JIANG X. YAN


Proprietățile de absorbție acustică ale compozitelor din HXNBR/FHHPF cu materiale nețesute interțesutelaminate din poliester cu lumen

Au fost produse patru compozite din cauciuc nitril carboxil hidrogenat, consolidate cu fibre din poliester cu lumen, cu unraport de masă de 70/30 și grosime de 1 mm (denumite A). Acestea au fost laminate cu nețesut din poliester cu lumen,cu 300 g/m2 și o grosime de 3 mm (denumite B). Au fost realizate materiale laminate cu două straturi AB și materialelaminate cu trei straturi ABA și BAB. Au fost testate proprietățile de absorbție acustică ale acestora. Referitor lamaterialele laminate cu două straturi AB, studiul a arătat că diferite laturi incidente au prezentat proprietăți diferite deabsorbție acustică. Atunci când a fost ales materialul B ca latură incidentă, AB a prezentat proprietăți excelente deabsorbție acustică a materialului poros. La frecvența de 1150 Hz și superioară, materialul a prezentat o performanțăbună de absorbție acustică. Atunci când a fost ales materialul A ca latură incidentă, AB a prezentat proprietăți excelentede absorbție acustică la frecvența joasă și medie, dar a prezentat proprietăți inferioare la 1800 Hz și peste aceastăvaloare. La materialele laminate cu trei straturi ABA și BAB, performanța generală de absorbție acustică a fostîmbunătățită ulterior. Performanța de absorbție acustică s-a îmbunătățit la frecvență joasă și medie, în timp ce lafrecvența de 1800 Hz și superioară a fost, de asemenea, bună, iar materialul BAB a prezentat proprietăți ușorîmbunătățite în comparație cu materialul ABA.

Cuvinte-cheie: HXNBR, poliester cu lumen, absorbție acustică, nețesut, laminat

Sound absorption properties of HXNBR/FHHPF composite with needle-punched hollow polyesternonwoven laminated materials

Four-hole hollow polyester fiber reinforced hydrogenated carboxyl nitrile rubber composite with a mass ratio of 70/30 in1 mm thickness was fabricated (named A). Then it was laminated with needle punched single-hole hollow polyesternonwoven which was 300 g/m2 and 3 mm in thickness (named B). Two-layer laminated material AB, three-layerlaminated material ABA and BAB were made. Their sound absorption properties were tested. For two-layer laminatedmaterial AB, the study found that different incident sides showed different sound absorption properties. When chosenmaterial B as the incident side, AB showed sound absorption properties of porous material. In frequency of 1150 Hz andabove, the material has good sound absorption performance. When chosen material A as the incident side, AB hasexcellent sound absorption property in medium and low frequency, but with inferior property in 1800 Hz and above. Forthe three-layer laminated material ABA and BAB, the overall sound absorption performance was further enhanced. Thesound absorption performance improved in the low and medium frequency while in frequency of 1800 Hz and above itwas also good, and material BAB was slightly better than material ABA.

Keywords: HXNBR, hollow polyester, sound absorption, nonwoven, laminate


synthetic fiber reinforced rubber composite and itssound absorption property have been seldom found.However, there exists a shortage in their study,although the materials have good sound absorptionin 1mm thickness, the effective acoustic absorptionfrequency range of the sound absorption coefficientmore than 0.2 is narrow. There is no sound absorp-tion effect at frequency below 1500 Hz [8–9]. How toimprove the sound absorption property of this mate -rial and broaden its effective frequency domain?Through increasing the thickness of the material canimprove the absorption coefficient and the frequencydomain, but the improvement is limited. In theresearch of Jiang et al., the material thickness raisedto 3mm with SHPF content 20%, although the acous-tic absorption coefficient reached 0.695 at 2500 Hz[8]. But the effectively improved area is only 1500 to2500 Hz, especially better in 2000 to 2500 Hz, andthe absorption coefficient is only 0.2 to 0.4 at1500–2000 Hz. There is no improvement in the rangebelow 1500 Hz.As for the hollow synthetic fiber nonwoven which iswidely used in sound absorption field has goodacoustic absorption performance. But based on thecharacteristics of porous acoustic absorption materi-al, it only has good acoustic absorption performanceat medium and high frequency. The thickness of thematerial has to be increased a lot in order to get bet-ter results in low frequency. In the study of Lee et al.,the acoustic absorption coefficient of a 15 mm thick-ness nonwoven material close to 0.7 at 2500 Hz andless than 0.3 while at 1000 Hz below [10]. Increasingthe thickness of the material to 50 mm has signifi-cantly improved the acoustic absorption of the mate-rial, the acoustic absorption coefficient close to 0.9 at2500 Hz and larger than 0.7 at 1000 Hz and below.For this purpose, a four-hole hollow polyester fiber(FHHPF) reinforced hydrogenated carboxyl nitrilerubber (HXNBR) matrix composites HXNBR/FHHPFwas made, named A. Then, a needle punched non-woven using the single-hole hollow polyester fiberwas made, named B. Three kinds of laminated mate-rials, two-layer laminated material AB, three-layerlaminated material ABA and BAB were made by lam-inating process. The acoustic absorption propertiesof these materials were studied.

MATERIAL FABRICATIONHXNBR/FHHPF composite fabricationThe rubber matrix HXNBR marked Therban XT VPKA8889 used for preparation of material A was pro-duced by LANXESS Deutschland GMBH. The mate-rial specification of FHHPF used is 0.833 tex × 60 mmwith hollow degree 22.9%, produced by SinopecYizheng Chemical Fibre Co., Ltd., China. The fabri-cation procedure of material A was as follows:(1) Weighing. According to the study of Jiang et al. [8]and my pre-research, weigh a certain amount ofHXNBR and FHHPF in a mass ratio of 70/30 respec-tively. (2) Mixing. After HXNBR was kneaded with X(S) K-460 type two-roller mill (Wuxi Chuangcheng

Rubber and Plastic Machinery Co., Ltd., China) at30°C for 5 min, FHHPF were added. Then the mix-ture was kneaded again, using a cutting knife bymixing at 30°C for 40 min to enhance the homo-geneity of the composite. (3) Vulcanization. Spreadthe HXNBR/FHHPF mixture on 1mm thick mold, themold was hold by 30 cm × 30 cm and 5 mm thicknessstainless steel plate, and between the mold and steelplate, a layer of thermostable PTFE cloth with a layerof anti-sticky thermostable PET film were put on it.The finished steel plate was packed into QLB-50D/Qtype plate vulcanizing press (Wuxi ChuangchengRubber and Plastic Machinery Co., Ltd., China), pre-heating at 1–2 Mpa pressure and 140°C for 5 min.Then adjust the pressure to 10 Mpa and press for20 min at 140°C. Release the pressure and take thesteel plate out. Let it cool down and demold it, obtainthe required material A with a smooth surface of1 mm thickness.

Preparation of the needle punched nonwovenThe material specification of single-hole hollowpolyester fibre used in the preparation of material B is0.667 tex × 64 mm, produced by Sinopec YizhengChemical Fibre Co., Ltd., China. The fabrication pro-cedure of material B was as follows: (1) Fibre open-ing and blending (2) Carding and forming web (3)Cross lapping (4) Pre-needling (5) Finish needling.The needle punched single-hole hollow polyesterfibre nonwoven material B was made with thickness3 mm and weight 300 g/m2.

Preparation of the laminated materialsMaterial A and B were laminated by the QLB-50D / Q-type plate vulcanizing press to get three kinds of lam-inated materials: two-layer laminated material AB,three-layer laminated material ABA and BAB. Theirstructure was shown in figure 1.The preparation process of the two-layer laminatedmaterial AB is as follows. Take one piece of stainlesssteel plate sizing 30 cm × 30 cm and in 5 mm thick-ness, then a layer of thermostable PTFE cloth anda layer of anti-sticky thermostable PET film sizing30 cm × 30 cm were put on it respectively. Cut onepiece of material A sizing 8 cm × 8 cm and place it on1mm thick stainless square mold as figure 2 and thenput it on thermostable PTFE cloth. It was then put onthe heating plate of the plate vulcanizing press topreheat at 100°C for 5 min. Cutting material B into8 cm × 8 cm and put it on the preheated material Asimultaneously. Place one piece of thermostable PETfilm sizing 30 cm × 30 cm and one piece of stainlessplate sizing 30 cm × 30 cm with 5 mm thickness. Startthe plate vulcanizing press, the material was pressedfor 0.5 min without additional pressure. Remove thecomposite out of the machine and take the two-layerlaminated material AB out until the stainless steelplates cool down. The preparation process of the three-layer laminatedmaterials is as follows. For material ABA, first accord-ing to the process of the preparation of two-layer lam-inated material described, preheat the material A, put


the prepared material AB with side B down on thepreheated material A, and place one layer of ther-mostable PTFE cloth and a layer of thermostablePET film respectively. Then place one piece of sizing30 cm × 30 cm and 5 mm thickness stainless steelplate. Start the plate vulcanizing press, the materialwas pressed for 0.5 min without additional pressure.Remove the composite out of the machine and takethe three-layer laminated material ABA out until thestainless steel plates cool down. When prepare the material BAB, put the preparedtwo-layer laminated material AB in the 4mm thickstainless steel mold shown in figure 2. Make sureside A is upward. Put the material together with moldon a stainless plate on which was already placedthermostable PET film. Then the composite was puton the plate vulcanizing press to preheat at 100°Cfor 5 min, cut one piece of material B sizing 8 cm × 8cm and put on the preheated material AB, placeanother piece of thermostable PET film and a pieceof 30 cm × 30 cm 5 mm thick stainless steel plate.Start the plate vulcanizing press, the material waspressed for 0.5 min without additional pressure.Remove the composite out of the machine and takethe three-layer laminated material BAB out until thestainless steel plates cool down.

MATERIAL TESTINGMorphology of the material A was conducted by usinga Quanta-250 Environment Scanning ElectronMicroscope (ESEM). The sample was immersed inliquid nitrogen for 5 min and then broken. The frac-tured surface was sputter-coated with gold beforeexamination. The fibre dispersion of the material Awas revealed by Hitachi desk type scanning elec-tronic microscope TM3000.The composite surfacewas sputter-coated with gold before examination. Sound absorption properties of the materials wereassessed using a two microphone transfer-functionmethod, according to the standard of ISO 10534-2.The testing apparatus was a part of a completeacoustic system SW230 (BSWA Technology Co.,Ltd., China). A middle-tube setup was employed tomeasure different acoustical parameters in the rangeof 100–2500 Hz (figure 3). At one end of the tube, aloudspeaker was placed as a sound source and the

test material was placed at the opposite end to mea-sure sound absorption properties. Samples wereplaced into a measurement tube using a machinedaluminium rod (length 20 mm, diameter 60 mm).Each set of the experiment was repeated three timesin order to have average measurements.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe acoustic absorption property of single layermaterialThe acoustic absorption properties of material A andB are shown in figure 4. In order to reflect the degreeof improvement in acoustic absorption of addingFHHPF, the acoustic absorption data of the 1 mmthickness pure HXNBR material is quoted for com-parison.

Fig. 1. Structure of laminated materials Fig. 2. The sketch of mold

Fig. 3. Assembled diagram of measured soundabsorption coefficient with an impedance tube

Fig. 4. Sound absorption property of material A and B

As can be observed in figure 4, the acoustic absorp-tion property of material A is better than the pureHXNBR material. This is because the acousticabsorption became a diversified effect after addingFHHPF in HXNBR. For material A, besides theacoustic absorption of the viscoelasticity damping ofthe HXNBR matrix, there also has the combinedacoustic absorption effect of viscoelasticity, thermalconductivity and the vibration of the FHHPF fibre [4].Meanwhile from figure 5 we can found that the hollowstructure of FHHPF with hollow degree 22.9%increasing the voids in material A, wherein the pres-ence of air plays a role of viscoelasticity and increas-ing the abrasion with the cavity wall, this result inmore energy consumption and greater improvementof the sound absorption performance [11–12]. On theother hand, figure 6 and 7 shown that the FHHPF uni-formly dispersed in the matrix of material A and acomplete dense fibre network was formed. The ener-gy consumption increased because of the vibrationfriction effect between the fibres and the rubbermatrix is strengthened which further improved theacoustic absorption property of the material [8–9].Acoustic absorption property of material A exhibitssimilar characteristics of porous material, the acous-tic absorption coefficient increases with correspond-ing increasing of the frequency.But from figure 4, we can also find that this improve-ment mainly above 1750 Hz. In range of 1950–2500Hz, the acoustic absorption coefficient is greater than0.2. And the coefficient at 2500 Hz reached the peakis 0.6. Whereas in the range of less than 1750 Hz,there also hasn't been improved. The acoustic absorp-tion performance was poor and disorder, particularlyin the low frequencies of below 500 Hz. Material B isa porous material with porosity 92.25%. Its acousticabsorption characteristic is similar to material A[13–14]. Figure 4 shown that comparing with materi-al A, material B has better acoustic absorption per-formance in the entire frequency range. The effectivefrequency domain of acoustic absorption coefficientgreat than 0.2 is also wider than material A which is1300–2500 Hz. The acoustic absorption coefficientat 2500 Hz is 0.567. However, acoustic absorption

performance of material B at the low frequency isalso poor with disorder feature below 500 Hz.According to the literature, increasing the thicknessof material can improve the acoustic absorption prop-erty [8, 10]. The thickness of material A and B wasdoubled to 2 mm and 6 mm respectively, and thentheir acoustic absorption performance was tested.Shown in figure 8, the acoustic absorption rule of thetwo materials did not change. Two kinds of materialsstill present the acoustic absorption characteristic ofporous material, but the absorption coefficient at eachfrequency has increased. The effective frequencydomain of acoustic absorption coefficient great than0.2 was broadened to 1850–2500 Hz and 900–2500Hz which mean the acoustic absorption performanceis further improved. With increasing of the thicknessof material, although the mechanism rule of acousticabsorption is the same, but the propagation distanceincreased which led to increasing of energy consump-tion, so the acoustic absorption effect was improved.Whereas for material A in the frequency range of lessthan 1750 Hz and material B in the frequency rangeof less than 750 Hz, the improvement was limited.Furthermore, after the thickness of the materialincreased to a certain value, the improvement of theacoustic absorption of the material is limited.Moreover, using thick material wastes resources andis not suitable for actual application [10].


Fig. 5. Cross sectional shapewith FHHPF amplified 1000 Fig. 6. Section SEM of material A Fig. 7. Surface SEM of material A

Fig. 8. Sound absorption property of A and Bwith double thickness

The acoustic absorption property of two-layerlaminated material The acoustic absorption property of the preparedtwo-layer laminated material AB is shown in figure 9and table 1. The curve of ABA-B is a test result with Aas the incident surface, and the curve of ABB-A is thetest result with B as the incident surface. According tofigure 9 and table 1, the acoustic absorption perfor-mance of material AB with different incident surfaceis completely different. When use side B of material AB as the incident sur-face, figure 9 shown that material AB has the chang-ing similar law with material B of the acoustic absorp-tion property. The reason is except the reflected part,the other part of the acoustic wave get into materialB, the presence of the still air in voids between thesingle-hole fibres and the hollow, under the effect ofthe acoustic incident wave, viscous friction of the airand the friction between the fibres can consumeenergy and make the sound energy attenuated. Butmaterial B as a porous material has good acoustic

absorption performance at medium-high frequencyand bad performance at medium-low frequency. Afterthe reflection and attenuation of the acoustic energy,the remains incident to the surface of material Awhich also part reflected back into the material B andpart get into material A. Diversified sound absorptioneffect was caused just as stated in the previous ofthis article. But material A as a porous material alsoonly has good acoustic absorption performance atmedium-high frequency and almost has no acousticabsorption effect at medium-low frequency. In short,material AB still showed the acoustic performancecharacteristics of porous material. And the thicknessof material was increased from 3 mm to 4 mm, theacoustic absorption coefficient at the correspondingfrequency has increased to some extent, the coeffi-cient is 0.598 at 2500 Hz. The range of absorptioncoefficient more than 0.2 has been widened to1150–2500 Hz and the average absorption coeffi-cient for each frequency point in figure 9 is 0.421.


ACOUSTIC ABSORPTION PROPERTY OF TWO-LAYER LAMINATED MATERIAL

Frequency(Hz)

Acoustic absorption coefficient value Frequency(Hz)

Acoustic absorption coefficient value

B ABA-B ABB-A B ABA-B ABB-A

100 0.019 0.124 0.051 1300 0.2 0.357 0.245

125 0.056 0.128 0.097 1350 0.225 0.358 0.291

160 0.106 0.124 0.094 1400 0.246 0.33 0.294

200 0.074 0.129 0.086 1450 0.247 0.302 0.307

250 0.105 0.138 0.097 1500 0.261 0.289 0.328

300 0.083 0.121 0.082 1550 0.265 0.272 0.338

350 0.098 0.127 0.084 1600 0.282 0.26 0.348

400 0.097 0.174 0.101 1650 0.3 0.24 0.375

450 0.133 0.232 0.098 1700 0.309 0.237 0.392

500 0.085 0.242 0.114 1750 0.326 0.207 0.409

550 0.115 0.257 0.083 1800 0.353 0.202 0.42

600 0.108 0.285 0.104 1850 0.357 0.189 0.444

650 0.114 0.382 0.106 1900 0.378 0.172 0.451

700 0.135 0.508 0.11 1950 0.382 0.161 0.466

750 0.149 0.619 0.101 2000 0.41 0.159 0.492

800 0.137 0.672 0.132 2050 0.425 0.146 0.496

850 0.133 0.65 0.138 2100 0.441 0.125 0.511

900 0.129 0.622 0.139 2150 0.457 0.122 0.531

950 0.132 0.593 0.157 2200 0.477 0.133 0.538

1000 0.158 0.589 0.155 2250 0.491 0.124 0.55

1050 0.152 0.588 0.167 2300 0.512 0.108 0.56

1100 0.145 0.529 0.187 2350 0.525 0.119 0.568

1150 0.162 0.48 0.202 2400 0.553 0.102 0.58

1200 0.17 0.434 0.228 2450 0.558 0.091 0.589

1250 0.187 0.401 0.238 2500 0.567 0.102 0.598

Table 1

When use side A of material AB as the incident sur-face, the acoustic absorption performance had under-gone a fundamental change. From figure 9 and table1 we can find that the acoustic absorption coefficientincreased as the frequency increased, but whenreached a peak, the acoustic absorption coefficientdecreased. And the peak position is significantlymoving to medium-low frequency which is 800 Hzwith acoustic absorption coefficient of 0.672. The fre-quency range of acoustic absorption coefficientabove 0.2 is 450–1800 Hz. This means that whenuse side A as incident surface, the acoustic absorp-tion performance was significantly improved at medi-um-low frequency. The average absorption coeffi-cient for each frequency point in figure 9 is 0.398. Forfurther observation of figure 10, using material A asincident surface has significantly improved theacoustic absorption of material AB at the low fre-quency range of 100–500 Hz, which is better thanthat of 6mm thickness material B and the changingrule is in order. From figure 7, we can find that thefibres in material A were well dispersed and fixed inthe rubber matrix, and it is an enclosed film sheetmaterial. Material B with porosity 92.25% at the backof material A which is an open porous material has a

large number of still air in the hollow fibre itself andgap between fibres, so a cavity was formed at theback of material A. This will cause the cavity reso-nance effect on absorbing sound, and this is pre-dominance effect which restrained the porous mate-rial acoustic absorption effect, and changed theacoustic absorption rule of material AB [15]. Theacoustic absorption performance was significantlyimproved at medium-low frequency. The absorbingfrequency peak moved to medium-low frequency, andthe effective frequency range also shifts to low fre-quency. Meanwhile, the material thickness increasedcan also improve the acoustic absorption perfor-mance at medium-low frequency to a certain degree,but the performance declined at the medium-high fre-quency [16]. Comparing to increase the thickness orsetting the air layer at the back of material A, it ismore simply by using the proper incident surface tosignificantly improving the acoustic absorption prop-erty at medium-low frequency [10,17]. Meantime, theprepared material is lightweight.Figure 11 is the acoustic impedance of the corre-sponding material in figure 9. From the figure 11 wecan found that when set side B as the incident surface,the acoustic impedance of the two-layer laminated


Fig. 9. Sound absorption property of AB (100–2500 Hz)

Fig. 11. Acoustic impedance of AB: a – real part; b – imaginary part

Fig. 10. Sound absorption property of AB (100–500 Hz)

a b

material AB is basically in coincidence with materialB, except at the second peak of real part and corre-sponding imaginary part, material B shows highervalue. So the acoustic absorption performance rule isconsistent, only when at the frequency of 1000 Hzabove, the acoustic absorption coefficient of materialB is relatively smaller, refer to figure 9 [18–19]. Whenset side A as the incident surface, the acousticimpedance of the material AB is different, the valuesof first peak at real part and corresponding imaginarypart are much smaller than B and ABB-A, however, itis more matching with the acoustic impedance of air.So according to figure 9, the acoustic absorption per-formance of material ABA-B better than B and ABB-Anear this frequency. Meanwhile, the second peak atreal part and corresponding imaginary part of materi-al ABA-B located at higher frequency than material Band ABB-A. So after reaching to the peak, with theincrease of frequency the acoustic absorption coeffi-cient of material ABA-B began to decline and gradual-ly smaller than material B and ABB-A, refer to figure 9[18].

The acoustic absorption property of three-layerlaminated materialWhen using side A of the material AB as the incidentsurface, the acoustic absorption performance is goodat medium-low frequency, but is not good at medium-high frequency, especially 1800 Hz above. Regardingto this reason, two kinds of three-layer laminatedmaterials ABA and BAB were prepared, using mate-rial A and material B as the core middle layer respec-tively, their acoustic absorption performances wereshown in figure 12 and table 2.From the figure 12 and table 2, we can find that theacoustic absorption performance of material ABA andBAB is similar. With the increasing of frequency, thesound absorption coefficient increased accordinglyuntil reached to the peak and began to decline. Fromthe acoustic absorption property curves we can findthat the two materials show almost coincide at thefrequency of 100–1250 Hz and only show differentamplitude of variation after 1250 Hz. Furtherobserved in figure 12, the acoustic absorption coeffi-cient of material ABA increased with increasing of the


ACOUSTIC ABSORPTION PROPERTY OF THREE-LAYER LAMINATED MATERIALS

Frequency(Hz)

Acoustic absorption coefficient value Frequency(Hz)

Acoustic absorption coefficient valueABA-B ABA BAB ABA-B ABA BAB

100 0.124 0.112 0.099 1300 0.357 0.723 0.702125 0.128 0.116 0.126 1350 0.358 0.744 0.709160 0.124 0.128 0.124 1400 0.33 0.752 0.714200 0.129 0.126 0.127 1450 0.302 0.768 0.715250 0.138 0.129 0.144 1500 0.289 0.778 0.714300 0.121 0.139 0.14 1550 0.272 0.781 0.713350 0.127 0.15 0.146 1600 0.26 0.787 0.71400 0.174 0.186 0.138 1650 0.24 0.788 0.708450 0.232 0.193 0.191 1700 0.237 0.79 0.704500 0.242 0.198 0.204 1750 0.207 0.78 0.7550 0.257 0.223 0.231 1800 0.202 0.77 0.695600 0.285 0.251 0.256 1850 0.189 0.759 0.692650 0.382 0.289 0.299 1900 0.172 0.743 0.688700 0.508 0.311 0.355 1950 0.161 0.72 0.684750 0.619 0.367 0.392 2000 0.159 0.697 0.679800 0.672 0.427 0.428 2050 0.146 0.67 0.676850 0.65 0.44 0.471 2100 0.125 0.638 0.672900 0.622 0.458 0.508 2150 0.122 0.607 0.669950 0.593 0.502 0.547 2200 0.133 0.569 0.6671000 0.589 0.547 0.584 2250 0.124 0.535 0.6631050 0.588 0.59 0.614 2300 0.108 0.5 0.661100 0.529 0.613 0.644 2350 0.119 0.462 0.661150 0.48 0.647 0.665 2400 0.102 0.432 0.6561200 0.434 0.682 0.677 2450 0.091 0.4 0.6551250 0.401 0.703 0.693 2500 0.102 0.37 0.653

Table 2

frequency until reach to the peak and begin to declineafter peak point, and the descend amplitude is larger.The peak value of the sound absorption coefficient is0.79 at frequency of 1700 Hz. At 2500 Hz the coeffi-cient declined to 0.37. The frequency range withregard to sound absorption coefficient above 0.2 waswidened to 550–2500 Hz, and the average absorp-tion coefficient in this frequency range is 0.59 thatABA has an excellent sound absorption property.This is due to the sandwich structure, with referenceto previous analysis there are a lot of air in material Bforming an air layer, which played a role to promotethe cavity resonance effect. Furthermore, the thick-ness of the material ABA was increased from 4 mmto 5mm that is also helpful to improve the perfor-mance of medium-low frequency. After attenuationthe sound wave gets into the last layer material A.Material A is enclosed film sheet material whichexhibits sound absorption characteristics of porousmaterial, also contribute to the improvement of medi-um-high frequency sound absorption performance,therefore material ABA has better absorption proper-ty in wider frequency.For the material BAB, the acoustic absorption coeffi-cient reached the maximum value of 0.715 in 1450 Hzand decreased moderately which is generally stable.

The acoustic absorption coefficient is 0.653 at 2500Hz frequency. The frequency range of the soundabsorption coefficient above 0.2 was 550–2500 Hz,and the average absorption coefficient in this fre-quency range is 0.603 that is more excellent thanmaterial ABA. The reason is except the reflected por-tion of the sound wave, the rest portion gets into theinterior of material B. According to the prior descrip-tion, the acoustic absorption of material B is betterthan material A at medium-high frequency. Similarly,the sound wave penetrates material B and reachesthe surface of material A, part of the sound wave isreflected back to material B and the rest gets intomaterial A. At the back of material A there is anotherlayer of material B, where the presence of largequantities of still air formed an air layer and lead tocavity resonance of sound absorption effect. This hasimproved the sound absorption performance at medi-um-low frequency. And the thickness increased to7 mm, not only the sound absorption performance atthe medium-low frequency is improved, but also inthe whole frequency.Figure 13 is the acoustic impedance of three-layerlaminated material. The figure shows that the acous-tic impedance curve of material ABA and BAB isalmost coincide at the frequency of 100–1250 Hz.So both acoustic absorption performance curve asshown in figure 12 is also coincide within this fre-quency range. Comparing with BAB, in the frequencyrange of 1250–2000 Hz, ABA is more matching withthe acoustic impedance of air, and the peak frequen-cy is higher and therefore the higher value of theacoustic absorption coefficient of material ABA corre-sponding to higher frequency as shown in figure 12[19]. In the frequency of 2000 Hz above, comparingthe acoustic impedance variation trend of the twomaterials as shown in figure 13, material BAB is morematching with the acoustic impedance of air, so mate-rial BAB can get a better sound absorption effect. Asillustrated in figure 12, the sound absorption coeffi-cient of material BAB is better than material ABA [19].


Fig. 13. Acoustic impedance of ABA and BAB: a – real part; b – imaginary part

a b

Fig. 12. Sound absorption properties of ABA and BAB

CONCLUSIONHXNBR/FHHPF composite with a mass ratio of 70/30in 1 mm thickness (named A) and a 300 g/m2 needlepunched hollow polyester nonwoven in 3 mm thick-ness (named B) was prepared. Their acousticabsorption properties were studied and their short-ages were analysed. Results confirmed the acousticabsorption property of material A and B has the char-acteristics of porous material, and poor at the medi-um-low frequency. The way to improve the acousticabsorption properties of the material by increasingthe thickness is limited.Then laminated material A and B, two-layer laminat-ed material AB and three-layer laminated materialABA and BAB were prepared and their acousticabsorption performance was tested. For using mate-rial A and B to make two-layer laminated material AB,the acoustic absorption property is improved, but dif-ferent incident surface shows different performance.When make side B as the incident surface, the mate-rial AB revealed characteristic of porous material.The acoustic absorption performance is furtherimproved at medium-high frequency. At frequency of2500 Hz the material reaches the peak soundabsorption coefficient of 0.598. The frequency of thesound absorption coefficient greater than 0.2 rangesfrom 150 to 2500 Hz. However, the improvement isnot obvious at medium-low frequency especially ofbelow 1000 Hz that rarely has any improvement.When use side A as the incident surface, material AB

has excellent acoustic absorption property at medi-um-low frequency, especially below 500 Hz, theimprovement is obvious. For the acoustic absorptioncoefficient 0.2 and above, the corresponding fre-quency range from 450 to 1800 Hz, it reaches to thepeak value of 0.672 at 800 Hz. However, the acous-tic absorption performance is poor at frequency of1800 Hz and above. For material ABA and BAB, both have excellentacoustic absorption property in low and high frequen-cy, with better performance in a wider frequencyrange. The effective frequency range of acousticabsorption coefficient more than 0.2 was 550–2500Hz and 500–2500 Hz respectively, the peak value ofthe sound absorption coefficient was reached 0.79at 1700 Hz and 0.715 at 1450 Hz, respectively. Theaverage value of the sound absorption coefficient inthe effective frequency range is 0.59 and 0.603respectively.

AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank the financial support of ChinaNational Textile and Apparel Council (Grant No. 2013115),the Project of Jiangsu Advanced Textile Engineering Center(Project No.SPPGO[2014]22), the Top-notch AcademicPrograms Project of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions(Project No. PPZY2015A093), Qing Lan Project in JiangsuProvince ([2014] No.23), and the Excellent Young ScientificTalent Training Project of Jiangsu College of Engineeringand Technology 2015.


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Authors:

J. HONG1,2

S. JIANG2

X. YAN1

Donghua University1Key Laboratory of Textile Science & Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Textiles

Jiangsu College of Engineering and Technology2College of Textile and Dying Engineering

Shanghai-ChinaNantong, Jiangsu-China

e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]


X. [email protected]

INTRODUCTIONSA pressure ulcer is defined as a lesion of the skin andunderling tissues due to constant pressure over abony prominence and or shear [1]. In developedcountries, treating pressure ulcers is considered tobe the third most costly pathology, after cancer andcardiovascular diseases [2].Critically ill patients are vulnerable to the develop-ment of hospital-associated pressure ulcers, whichare an important concern for the patient and for themedical personnel. The incidence of pressure ulcersis higher in the intensive care unit (ICU) and cansometimes complicate patient rehabilitation.The incidence of pressure ulcer in ICU variesbetween 14.9% and 34.4% and is much higher com-pared to the rest of the wards [3–5]. The risk factorsincludes: age, length of stay, infection, positioning ofthe patient, the Braden scale for predicting pressuresore risk, history of vascular disease, hemodialysis,

mechanical ventilation, the use of sedatives, bodytemperature above 38.5 °C and sedentary state [6].Pressure ulcer staging was first documented in 1955(Guttman) and 1975 (Shea). Shea's classificationincluded 4 grades from acute inflammatory responseto penetration of the fascia and was used until 1988when Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses'Society developed a more elaborate description ofpressure ulcer. Stage I included “erythema not resolv-ing within thirty minutes of pressure relief. Dermisremains intact”, while stage IV stated “deep tissuedestruction extending through subcutaneous tissueto fascia and may involve muscle layers, joint, and/orbone. The aspect is of a deep crater and may includenecrotic tissue, undermining, sinus tract formation,exudates and/or infection. Wound bed is usually notpainful” [7].This staging was used until 2007, when the NationalPressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) redefinedthe definition of a pressure ulcer and the stages of


ELENA-CRISTINA BERBECAR-ZECA ALEXANDRU CHIOTOROIUELENA-LUMINIŢA STĂNCIULESCU IOANA MARINA GRINŢESCU


Ulcerul de presiune în unitățile de terapie intensivă și utilizarea biomaterialelor

Context: Ulcerele de presiune din unitățile de terapie intensivă pot complica reabilitarea pacientului, astfel încâttratamentul cel mai acceptat este prevenirea și utilizarea de pansamente simple.Obiectiv: Revizuirea literaturii medicale în ceea ce privește utilizarea diferitelor biomateriale în tratarea ulcerului depresiune.Surse de date și selecția studiului: Articolele referitoare la utilizarea biomaterialelor au fost selectate de la PubMed.Au fost selectate articole relevante publicate în perioada 2002–2015.Toate căutările au folosit termeni precum: durere de presiune, pansament ulcer de presiune, durere de presiune înunitățile de terapie intensivă. Au fost cercetate ulterior informații relevante din articole.Sinteza informații: Unsprezece studii au fost considerate relevante pentru această analiză. Acest articol analizeazădiferite materiale considerate a fi superioare pansamentelor simple. Acesta conține studii care abordează și comparăpansamente cu colagen, hidrocoloid, silicon și chitosan. Unele dintre aceste pansamente pot fi folosite, de asemenea,în prevenirea ulcerului de presiune, nu numai în tratarea acestuia.Concluzii: Pansamentele cu biomateriale pot varia de la cele simple și accesibile la preț, până la cele personalizate,cum ar fi bioimprimarea.


Context: Pressure ulcers in the Intensive Care Units may complicate patient rehabilitation, so the most acceptedtreatment is prevention and the use of simple dressings.Objective: To review the medical literature regarding the use of different biomaterials in treating pressure ulcer.Data Sources and Study Selection: The articles regarding the use of biomaterials were selected from PubMed. Weselected relevant articles published between 2002 and 2015.All searches used the terms biomaterials in pressure sore, dressing pressure ulcer, pressure sore in the ICU. Relevantinformation from the articles was further researched.Data Synthesis: Eleven studies were considered relevant for this review. This article reviews different materialsconsidered to be superior to simple dressings. It includes studies that discussed and compared dressings with collagen,hydrocolloid, silicones and chitosan. Some of these dressings may also be used in preventing pressure ulcer, not onlyin treating them.Conclusions: Dressing with biomaterials may vary from simple and affordable ones to personalized ones likebioprinting.


pressure ulcers. It included the original 4 stages andadded 2 stages on deep tissue injury and unstage-able pressure ulcers.According to the NPUAP, pressure ulcer can be cat-egorized as followed:• Stage I – non-blanchable erythema (intact skin

with non-blanchable redness, the area may bepainful, firm, soft, warmer or cooler as comparedto adjacent tissue);

• Stage II – partial thickness (loss of dermis pre-senting as a shallow open ulcer with a red pinkwound bed);

• Stage III – full thickness skin loss (subcutaneousfat may be visible but bone, tendon or muscle arenot exposed);

• Stage IV – full thickness tissue loss (exposedbone, tendon or muscle) – figure 1.

• Unclassified – full thickness skin or tissue loss –depth unknown (actual depth of the ulcer is com-pletely obscured by slough (yellow, tan, gray,green or brown) and/or eschar (tan, brown orblack) in the wound bed).

• Suspected deep tissue injury – depth unknown(purple or maroon localized area of discoloredintact skin or blood-filled blister due to damage ofunderlying soft tissue from pressure and/or shear)[8].

Developing pressure ulcer is dependent on the timeand amount of pressure to a specific area. The pres-sures developed by a healthy person seating on a flatboard are between 300 and 500 mmHg.

MAIN PART OF THE REVIEWA review of the medical literature was conductedregarding the use of different biomaterials in treatingpressure ulcer. Among the medical literature of bio-materials for bedsores we selected only studies hav-ing the following characteristics: comparisonsbetween different biomaterials, their use in the ICU

and trials of biomaterial done from 2002 to 2015. Theresearch was performed between September –December 2015 and we included 11 studies whichevaluated a total number of 1113 pressure ulcers. The key word used for this researched were: bioma-terials in pressure sore, dressing pressure ulcer,pressure sore in the ICU. The articles were selectedfrom the PubMed database.The biomaterial science is a new and growing indus-try, with a history of fifty years and important studiesmade in medicine, biology, materials, chemistry andtissue engineering [9].The ideal wound dressing should have special prop-erties like compatibility, preventing infections andwater loss, but with good oxygen permeability. Thedressing should have properties similar to that of theskin and should rush the healing process. Specialdressings have been developed to allow healingaccording to the characteristics of the ulcer stage.Beginning with the 1960’s, the moist wound dressingappears to be superior to the dry one due to its abili-ty to increase re-epithelialization and healing, thusopening the era of modern wound management [10].The material considered superior to the traditionaldressings (such as gauze) is the hydrocolloid. It con-sists of a layer of gel-forming material attached to asemi-permeable film or foam backing. The gel maycontain a combination of absorbent materials such assodium carboxymethylcellulose, pectin and gelatin[11].In a systemic review and meta-analysis regarding theeffectiveness of hydrocolloid dressings versus otherdressings in the healing of pressure ulcers in adultsand older adults, Ribas showed that there is insuffi-cient evidence in the medical literature and clinicalbased medicine to state that hydrocolloid dressing issuperior to other types of dressing [12].The most abundant animal protein is the collagen; itbegan to be used as a biomaterial for the first time by


Fig. 1. Stage IV sacral pressure ulcer

Joseph Lister in 1881 and it was used for suturing.Collagen has special properties like: biodegradability,nontoxicity, biocompatibility, weakly antigenicity. It canbe found in the medical market in different forms(sponges, fibers, powders, hydrolyzed collagen,composite dressing). In pressure ulcer dressing it canbe used as a powder (Catrix®), as a membrane(ColActive® Plus), sponge (GENTA-COLL®) or gels[13–14]. Powder collagen reduces the duration of thetreatment and the wound size, but compared tohydrocolloid there are no significant differences inhealing [15]. The treatment with collagen was con-sidered to be more expensive that the one made withhydrocolloids [16].The chronic wound contains an increased level ofproteases such as elastase and plasmin, for this rea-son it was demonstrated that oxidized regeneratedcellulose/collagen matrix improves the woundmicroenvironment because it binds and inactivatesexcess proteases in wound exudates. In a study con-ducted by Ulrich, 33 patients with pressure ulcerswere divided into two groups : one control group of 10patient that were treated with a foam hydropolymerdressing (TIELLE®, Systagenix) and the other groupof 23 patients that were treated with oxidised regen-erated cellulose/collagen matrix plus a foamhydropolymer dressing (TIELLE®, Systagenix). Thesecond group showed significant faster healing witha decreased activity of elastase and plasmin inwound exudates [21].The next step in advanced biomaterials dressingbegan in the 1980’s when Mölnlycke createdMepitel®, by covering it with a silicon layer. Theadvantages include: no skin reactions or systemictoxicity, painless when removed, no macerationaround the pressure sore making it an atraumaticdressing. They are not adhesive to the wound andespecially to the granulation tissues. They reduce theinflammation and improve the healing time [17–18]. In a study performed by Jonathan Knott and co.regarding the use of soft silicon multi-layered foamdressing on 440 trauma and critically ill patientsshowed an important decrease in the development ofpressure ulcer. The patients were divided into aninterventional group (219) and control group. Theinterventional group had Mepilex® Border Sacrumand Mepilex® Heel dressings applied in the emer-gency department and maintained throughout theirICU stay. There were significantly fewer patients withpressure ulcers in the interventional group comparedto the control group. It represented a 10% differencein incidence between the groups [19].The highest incidence in developing pressure ulcer isin the ICU, for this reason at the Danbury Hospital,Danbury, Connecticut – a protocol was implemented.It consisted of an application of a silicone foam dress-ing every 3 days, that further diminished the numberof patients with pressure sore [20].

The use of siliconic dressing can reduce the inci-dence of pressure ulcer to the sacrum from 13.6% to1.8% [22].The effectiveness of multi-layer, self-adhesive softsilicone foam heel dressing was demonstrated in asurvey done on 150 patients from the ICU. Theyreceived on the day of admission dressing on bothheels that were replaced every three days and exam-ined daily. The silicone foam was clinically effective inreducing ICU-acquired heel pressure ulcers [23]. The use of silicone border foam dressing is reducesthe incidence of pressure ulcer and also the associ-ated dermitis [24].In a comparison study between self-adherent soft sil-icone dressing and a self-adherent polymer dressingfor stage II pressure ulcer, the polymer dressingshowed an accelerated wound healing properties,but there were more cases of surrounding skin prob-lems, maceration and dressing removal difficulties [25].Another promising alternative biomaterial is chitosan,a natural polysaccharide derivate from chitin which isfound in the exoskeleton of insects, crustaceansand arachnids [28]. Since its testing performed onmice in 2009 that showed accelerating wound heal-ing continuous effort were done in creating the bestdressing, easy to use for treating pressure sore [29].In an open multicenter comparative randomized clin-ical study on chitosan published in August 2015 byPercival, revealed that dressing performed with thisbiomaterial can intensify wound healing throughreepithelialization and pain relive [30].

CONCLUSIONThe medical scientific world is dedicated to findingnew therapies for ulcers and developing a more per-sonalized wound dressing. There are continuingstudies regarding the development of human use ofbiomaterials, like silk proteins – sericin and fibroin,that have the property to provide excellent oxygenpermeability), antioxidant action, moisture regulatingability, UV resistance, antibacterial, anticancer andanticoagulant properties [26].The future of tissue engineering stands in bioprinting.This is a method for creating 3-D tissues and organsin the laboratory that recreates tissue using differentbiomaterials such as polymers, gels and hydrogels.Different materials are currently being tested alongwith new ways of maintaining the tissues/organsviable until transplantation [27].The industry of dressing for ulcers had a continuousand constant development, improving healing andquality of live. Their shape, consistency, structureand properties vary according to the stage of thepressure ulcer. Among different complication of anIntensive Care Unit patient stands also the pressuresore, which complicates or diminishes the evolutionon such a patient. Hydrocolloids dressing are superior to the simpledressing that use no active substance for healing, but


has the same healing rate as collage, with the advan-tage of being more affordable. The silicon dressinghas the supremacy among biomaterials for pressureulcer, because it prevents and heals this type oflesion.

Chitosan is one of the new discoveries among ulcersbecause it intensifies wound healing.The medical science continues to discover and studynew proteins that are able to deliver oxygen the wound,but the future of wound healing is the 3-D bioprinting.


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Authors:

ELENA-CRISTINA BERBECAR-ZECA1

ELENA-LUMINIŢA STĂNCIULESCU2

ALEXANDRU CHIOTOROIU3

IOANA MARINA GRINŢESCU2

1 Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery –Floreasca Hospital Emergency Bucharest Romania2 Anesthesia and Intensiv Care Unit – Floreasca Hospital Emergency Bucharest Romania

3 General Surgery – Floreasca Hospital Emergency Bucharest Romania

All authors had equal contribution to this article


Elena-Luminiţa Stă[email protected]

[23] N. Santamaria and co., Clinical effectiveness of a silicone foam dressing for the prevention of heel pressure ulcersin critically ill patients: Border II Trial, In: Journal of wound care, Published Online: August 20, 2015

[24] Park, Kyung Hee, The effect of a silicone border foam dressing for prevention of pressure ulcers and incontinence-associated dermatitis in intensive care unit patients, In: Journal of Wound Ostomy & Continence Nursing 41.5(2014), pp. 424–429.

[25] Maume S., Van De Looverbosch D., Heyman H., Romanelli M., Ciangherotti A., Charpin S., A study to compare anew self-adherent soft silicone dressing with a self-adherent polymer dressing in stage II pressure ulcers, In:Ostomy Wound Manage, 2003 Sep, 49(9), pp. 44–51, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14581709

[26] Omer Akturk, Aysen Tezcaner, Hasan Bilgili, M. Salih Deveci, M. Rusen Gecit, and Dilek Keskin, Evaluation ofsericin/collagen membranes as prospective wound dressing biomaterial, In: Journal of Bioscience andBioengineering, vol. 112, no. 3, pp. 279–288, 2011

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ulcers in aged mice by chitosan scaffolds with and without, In: Acta Biomater, 2009 Jul., 5(6):1926-36. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2009.03.002. Epub 2009 Mar 11

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INTRODUCTIONCoated, laminated and impregnated textile materialswhich protect against environmental conditions areused in industry more frequently, so the productsmade from the mentioned materials have becomemore widely used. Coated materials are used notonly for protective clothing but also in car and furni-ture industry [1–3]. Hydrophobicity is one of the mostimportant requirements for these materials. Themethod of water drop contact angle is widely used fordefining hydrophobic properties of coated textilematerials [4–8]. The basis of this method is that whenusing it droplet of liquid is instilled onto the observa-tional surface and the water drop contact angle ismeasured; according to the determined contact anglesurfaces are classified into groups [9]. Surfaces arehydrophobic if water drop contact angle is biggerthan 90°, if this contact angle is smaller than 30° itshows that surfaces are hydrophilic [10]. Water dropcontact measurement angle is used while measuringtextile fibre that have various hydrophobic coating

paper with protective coating, various kinds of poly-meric films, polymers and composites [4–8, 10–12].The size of water drop contact angle depends on theproperties of the surface under observation and vari-ous effects that appear during the measurement[5, 6]. Some factors are used to evaluate a garment’sdurability. Abrasion refers to the wearing of any partof a material when rubbed against another surface.For durability, be sure to purchase clothing that canwithstand rubbing against skin and other materials.Products for special purpose have to satisfy highrequirements of durability, heat and humidity trans-ferring. To evaluate the durability of coated materialsduring their exploitation the resistance against cyclefatigue [13–16], extension [2, 3, 15] and abrasion [7,11–12] is measured. Although coated and laminatedmaterials are tough and resistant, at the same timethey are stiffer and thicker because they have at leasttwo layers, i.e. textile base and polymer. Bendingrigidity of coated materials, depending on the bend-ing side of the specimen, i.e. if the textile backing or

The influence of mechanical effects on coated textilehydrophobic properties

VIRGINIJA SACEVIČIENĖ MILDA JUCIENĖ LORETA ŠVEIKAUSKAITĖ


Influenţa efectelor mecanice asupra proprietăţilor hidrofobice ale materialelor acoperite

În acest studiu, a fost investigată influența oboselii ciclice și a abraziuii asupra hidrofobiei textilelor peliculizate. În acestscop, au fost alese șase materiale peliculizate care sunt utilizate la confecționarea îmbrăcămintei de protecție. Studiileefectuate au demonstrat că abraziunea suprafeței de același tip permite proiectarea comportamentului produsului întimpul exploatării. Microfisurile, care deteriorează materialul stratului protector, pot apărea în locul flexiunii dupăsolicitarea la îndoire sau tracțiune. Testul la oboseală ciclică a țesăturii care imită îndoirea, flexiunea sau întinderea afost efectuat cu ajutorul echipamentului IPK 2M. Epruvetele au fost testate la oboseală utilizând modulul ciclic 3000,6000, 7500, 9000, 12000 și 15000. Abraziunea suprafeței țesăturii a fost măsurată utilizând echipamentul cu rotații deabraziune YΓH-1, 2000, 3000, 7000, 8000, 9000 și 15000. Metoda măsurării unghiului de contact liber a fost utilizatăpentru a evalua hidrofobia. Studiile demonstrează că, în cele din urmă, influența asupra rugozității suprafeței a fostdeterminată de abraziunea suprafețelor de același tip. Conform rezultatelor de cercetare obținute, materialul cu peliculăPU este cel mai rezistent la abraziune. Materialul peliculizat cu PVC este, de asemenea, rezistent la abraziune, iar dupăabraziunea maximă a rămas hidrofob.

Cuvinte-cheie: textile peliculizate, oboseală, abraziune, proprietăți hidrofobe, unghi de contact

The influence of mechanical effects on coated textile hydrophobic properties

In this study, the influence of cycle fatigue and abrasion on hydrophobicity of coated textile was investigated. For thispurpose, six coated materials were chosen that are used for protective clothing. The studies carried out show that theabrasion of the surface of the same nature allows project behaviour of product during exploitation. Micro-cracks, whichdamage the protective layer material, can occur in flex place after bending or tensile stress. Cycle fabric fatigue thatimitates bending, flexing and stretching was performed using equipment IPK500, 9000, 12000 and 15000 cycle mode.Fabric surface abrasion was measured using equipment YΓH-1, 2000, 3000, 7000, 8000, 9000 and 15000 abrasionrotations were chosen to do the test. The method of drop contact angle measuring is used to evaluate hydrophobicity.The studies show that ultimately influences on the surface roughness had abrasion of the same surfaces. According tothe obtained research results the material with PU coating is the most resistant against abrasion. The material coatedwith PVC is also resistant against abrasion and after maximum abrasion remained hydrophobic.

Keywords: coated textile, fatigue, abrasion, hydrophobic properties, contact angle


polymeric coating is the upper side, it can differ up to7 times [17]. Various mechanical effects such ascyclic extension, bending, shear, abrasion and com-pression influence physical properties of multi-layermaterials. Fatigue or cyclic extension has impact onhydrophobic properties of coated and laminatedmaterials. Even insignificant permanent fatigue canworsen mechanical behaviour of the material andchange its properties as well as reduced usage dura-tion of the product. It was estimated that after 9000fatigue cycles 160–640 µm cracks appear and waterpermeability in the coated materials increases [16].Bending rigidity of the materials that were laminatedusing polyurethane film increases after fatigue up to50 % and thickness of the materials increases up to13 % [13]. Whereas cyclic extension opens micro-scopic pores of the textile materials that are coatedwith polyurethane coating and increases water per-meability of that material up to 20 % [15]. The rigidityof coated materials decreases after mechanicaleffect but water permeability does not make anyinfluence [8]. Analysis of scientific literature of otherauthors shows that in some cases differentresearchers receive counterproductive. This showsthat the present problem is current and requires amore detailed investigation. Surface abrasion whileexploiting materials changes surface roughness andincreases the probability of wettability. HydrophobicTiO2 nano-coating experiences surface destructionalready in 2 cycles of abrasion and obvious destruc-tion is noticeable in 10 cycles of abrasion [7]. Duringabrasion the materials having PVC coating experi-ence the loss of thickness up to 0.6 % and the loss ofweight up to 4 % after 30000 cycles. It was identifiedthat cotton fibre materials coated with PU coating aretwice more abrasion-resistant than analogical materi-als coated with epoxy resin. The result was that thecontact angle of the material coated with PU coatingdoes not change after abrasion cycles in the intervalfrom 600 to 1000 [11]. It may be mentioned that dur-ing the exploitation even composite materials of veryhigh quality grow old and weaken like all other mate-rials. Even inconsiderable permanent fatigue can

considerably reduce strength, change qualities oflaminated leather and shorten the duration of productexploitation [14]. Surface changes can be estimatedusing optical microscope and the material weightloss. Water drop contact angle reduces when theroughness of material surface increases. Duringexploitation products may be washed, so they areaffected not only by multi-fold mechanical but also bychemical effects. It was evaluated that the biggestchanges increase after first five washing cycles whenwater drop contact angle decreases up to 20 % [8].The review of scientific literature has shown thathydrophobic properties of materials are important forprotective products. Depending on the particularity ofwork, materials are affected by various mechanicaleffects and these have different influence on theproperties of materials. However, there are not morewide researches which would evaluate the influenceof different mechanical effects on the hydrophobicproperties of coated textile materials.The aim of the research is to examine and evaluatethe influence of fatigue and abrasion on thehydrophobic properties of coated textile materials.

MATERIALS AND METHODIn this research six samples of commercial protectivetextile were investigated. These materials are usedfor protective clothing as rain coat. Their characteris-tics are presented in table 1. Surface density of the investigated materials wasestimated according to the standard LST EN 12127:1999 using electronical scales KERN EG (error ±± 0.001 g).The thickness d of the specimens wasmeasured using a thickness gage Schmidt (error ±± 0.01 mm), the pressure of pressing was p = 1.0 kPa.The coefficient of variation did not exceed 2 %. To evaluate hydrophobicity the method of drop con-tact angle measuring is used. One drop of distilledwater is applied with a pipette on the surface of theinvestigated specimens and it is photographed in20 s using a chronometer. According to the scientificresearch it is optimal time during which the applieddrop forms itself the best [4, 12]. A digital camera


Notes: the names of fibres and their abbreviations are presented according to standard LST ISO 2076:2000: PES – polyester,PA – polyamide, PVC – polyvinyl chloride, PU – polyurethane.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF INVESTIGATED FABRICS

Materialcode

Fibre contentof materials Weave type Surface

density, g/m2

Fabric thickness d,mm, at pressure

of 0.196 MPa

Threads density, cm–1

waledirection

coursedirection

M1 63% PU, 37% PA Double jersey 142 0.38 14.0 17.0M2 40% PU, 60% PA Double jersey 212 0.56 11.0 10.0M3 40% PU, 60% PA Double jersey 234 0.58 10.0 10.0M4 90% PVC, 10% PES Weft knitted 301 0.52 16.0 20.0M5 92% PVC, 8% PES Weft knitted 577 0.65 10.0 10.0M6 92% PVC, 8% PES Weft knitted 599 0.78 16.0 18.0

Table 1

Samsung 5 MP was used and its resolution is 2560 ×1920 mega pixels. The centre of the camera objectglass is at the same level as the plane of the pho-tographed material. The distance from the objectglass to the specimen is 10 centimetres. Six testswere performed using each tested material and thecoefficient of variation of drop contact angle did notexceed 1.0 %. Cycle fabric fatigue that imitates bend-ing, flexing and stretching was performed using equip-ment IPK 2M. According to the standard ISO 7854textile fabrics coated with rubber or plastic have towithstand 7500 cycle fatigue and remain unchangedso in order to estimate fabric resistance against cyclefatigue the specimens were fatigued using 3000,6000, 7500, 9000, 12000 and 15000 cycle mode. Thespecimens were fatigued in wale and course direc-tions. All specimens were tested when polymer filmwas on top. Fabric surface abrasion was measuredusing equipment YΓH-1. Considering the purpose offabric and thickness 30.0 N force loads to the speci-men was chosen because abrasion is done betweenthe two layers of the same fabric. Such abrasionmethod was chosen considering the interactionsbetween the components of the product duringexploitation. These loads were chosen in order to imi-tate intensive wearing conditions that are usuallycharacteristic feature of outdoor clothes. 2000, 3000,7000, 8000, 9000 and 15000 abrasion rotations werechosen to do the test. The number of abrasion rota-tions was chosen according to LST EN ISO 5470-2:2003, here rubber and plastic coated fabrics have towithstand 7000 abrasion rotations. All specimenswere tested when polymer film was on top and hadcontact with abrasion equipment.

RESULTS AND DICUSSIONSThe influence of cycle fatigue on thehydrophobic properties of coated materialsAnalysing the influence of cycle fatigue on coatedmaterials it was noticed that their hydrophobic prop-erties changed marginally. After the first 3000 cyclefatigue in wale and course directions the contactangle change of the specimens was ~0.5 %. It shouldbe mentioned that after 7500 fatigue cycles contactangle decreased from 0.75 % to 2 %. The speci -mens that weathered the biggest chosen fatiguealso remained quite hydrophobic i.e. contact angledecreased from 2 % to 6 %. Slight decrease of theresults is seen while increasing the number of fatiguecycles. It was found that after 15,000 cycles fatiguecontact angle decreased by 4 %. The hardest mate-rial M6 is the most hydrophobic of the investigatedones. The control specimen of this fabric had 92.12°contact angle. The surface of the materials with thecontact angle that is more than 90° is very hydro -phobic [18]. Contact angle slightly – up to 89.50°decreased after the biggest 15,000 fatigue cycles(the variation is ~3 %). It may be mentioned that thecontact angle of the materials which were fatigued inwale direction similar measurements are observed.Contact angle of material M1 after the biggest chosen15,000 fatigue cycles decreased by 5 %. Material M6contact angle after cycle fatigue and changed by 3 %(figure 1). From the obtained results we can see that the sur-faces of materials M5 and M6 that were coated withPVC are the most hydrophobic of all the investigatedsurfaces. Material M1 had the lowest hydrophobicity;this material is the thinnest of the investigated mate-rials. Contact angle slightly decreases when the num-ber of fatigue cycles is increased. Linear correlative


Fig. 1. The dependence upon coated material fabric thickness and the number of fatigue cycles: a – in the coursedirection, b – in the wale direction, when – 65°–75°, – 76°–85°, – 86–95°

a b

dependence is observed in all coated materials thatwere affected by fatigue both in the course and waledirections. As it can be seen from figure 2 surfacehydrophobic capacity slightly decreases when thenumber of fatigue cycles is increased. The coefficient of correlation changes in very narrowinterval after different number of fatigue cycles to thespecimens in the wale direction. It may be mentionedthat from the obtained results we can see that cyclefatigue did not have any significant influence on thesurface hydrophobic capacity of specimens. Evenafter the biggest chosen 15,000 cycles fatigue theproperties of the investigated materials did notchange significantly, i.e. the surface of coated mate-rials that were folded remained hydrophobic and nochanges in coating were noticed. While investigatingthe influence of cycle fatigue on PU micro pore coat-ing it was determined that almost did not have anyimpact on the strength of PU film while increasing thenumber of folding cycles from 100,000 to 500,000when the temperature was 20 °C. Any notable cracksor surface damage was not noticed [19]. While wear-ing different parts of clothing are deformed in variousdirections and with cycle folding of different frequen-cy and intensity, so it is relevant to take into accountthe direction of material components [20]. Clothingcomponents should be orientated in course direction

in those places where folding and extension defor-mations are more intensive.

The influence of abrasion on the hydrophobicqualities of coated fabricsThe hydrophobicity of the all materials was investi-gated by measuring the variation of contact angleafter abrasion. It was obtained that materials withthicker polymer layer and bigger surface density (M3and M6) are more resistant to mechanical effect suchas abrasion. It must be mentioned that correlativedependence of water drop contact angle change onabrasion cycle number for the materials with PU andPVC coating as typical materials are presented in fig-ure 3. Roughness of coating and first destructionsappeared of material M4 after 2000 cycles abrasionand as it can be seen from after 3000 cycles of abra-sion the coating of material M4 was damaged and itcrumbled (figure 4, a). Coated material M1 becameglossy and had small changes in surface structure(figure 4, b).When bigger abrasion was applied, the number ofcycles for materials M5 and M2 correspondingly9000 and 8000 abrasion cycles, first surface coatingdamage was noticed – there was gloss and rough-ness in some places. Contact angle after abrasionwas measured and it was found that hydrophobic


Fig. 2. The influence of fatigue cycle number on thevariation of water drop contact angle in coated materials,when – M1, — – M2, • – M3, W – M4, + – M5, – M6

Fig. 3. Contact angle dependence on the numberof abrasion cycles for materials M3 and M6, when

• – M3, – M6

Fig. 4. Surface damage after abrasion: a – material M4, b – material M1

a b

Damage ofsurface

coating andrubbingaway

Gloss anddamage ofpolymericcoating

capacity decreased correspondingly to 13 % and 16 %.Materials M3 and M6 could withstand 15,000 abra-sion cycles and their upper surface layer did notchange. Materials M5 and M2 are more resistantagainst abrasion, they became flaked after 9000 and8000 abrasion cycles (figure 5, a, b). It must be mentioned that after estimating thicknessand surface density of the materials the materialswith PU coating are more resistant against abrasionthan the materials with PVC coating. According to thestandard (ISO 5470-2) the materials with polymericcoating have to withstand 7000 abrasion cycles.However, only materials M2, M3, M5 and M6 couldwithstand this effect, so further only the analysis ofhydrophobic quality changes in these materials arepresented. While testing materials M2 and M5 whichcould withstand 8000 and 9000 abrasion cycles itwas observed that material M5 with PVC coating thatis thicker was more resistant against abrasion thanmaterial M2 with PU coating (figure 3). Smallerchange of hydrophobic capacity was seen in materi-al M5. After 8000 abrasion cycles contact anglechanged about 11 %. The wettability of material M2that is coated with PU coating increased about 16 %after 8000 abrasion cycles. Greater hydrophobiccapacity remained for material M3 after 15,000 abra-sion cycles, M3 is coated with PU coating (contactangle decreased by 7 %). Hydrophobicity of material

M6 decreased more, i.e. by 11 % though this materi-al is thicker and has bigger surface density. Twomaterials (M3 and M6) had the smallest damage afterabrasion, they could withstand 15,000 abrasioncycles. The rubbed surface of material M3 became abit glossy but was not rubbed through, and change ofsurface coating is seen in material M6, i.e. it becamedull in the place of abrasion (figure 6 a, b). It is evident from results, the abrasion action hadbeen done it was ascertained that thicker materialswith bigger surface density are more resistant againstabrasion. Polymeric coating has impact on surfacedamage as well. The surface of materials coated withPU becomes harder during abrasion and glossappears. The surfaces of materials with PVC coatingroughness and the coatings rub away and becomeflaked faster. The influence of the maximum numberof abrasion cycles on the durability on coated materi-als is given in figure 7. From the obtained results we can see that thicknessof material, surface density and the type of polymer-ic coating have impact on abrasion. Material withPVC coating could sustain smaller number of abra-sion cycles than material coated with PU – it is thin-ner and has smaller surface density. As evident fromresearch, the materials coated with PVC are lessresistant against abrasion than the materials with PUcoating.



a b


a b

Damage of coating,roughness

Surface gloss and smalldamage

Change ofcoating-dull

Surface gloss

surface

CONCLUSIONSThe experimental study presented in this paper wasfocused on analysis of the mechanical effects (influ-ence flexing fatigue and abrasion) on knitted coatedfabrics hydrophobic properties.As it is known, different clothing parts are deformedin various directions during the wearing time and withcycle bending of different frequency and intensity

therefore it is relevant to pay attention at the directionof material in clothing parts. During the fatigue thedrop contact angle decreased up to 3.4 %. After thelargest number chosen 15000 fatigue cycles, contactangle of the material specimens decreased up to 6 %.In the places where bending and extension deforma-tions are more intensive clothing parts should be ori-ented in the course direction. It was identified thatresistance against abrasion depends not only on thetype of polymeric coating but also on the thicknesspolymer layer. According to the obtained researchresults the material with PU coating is the most resis-tant against abrasion. Its hydrophobicity decreasedby 7 % after 15,000 abrasion cycles. The materialcoated with PVC is also resistant against abrasionand after maximum abrasion remained hydrophobic.While choosing materials for a product it is necessaryto estimate not only their hydrophobic properties,resistance against friction, extension and compres-sion but also their surface density. It may be men-tioned that the materials with bigger surface densityand thickness polymer layer are more resistantagainst water permeability, abrasion and other defor-mations.It is relevant that fabrics would be characterized ashaving sustained exploitation and retains protectivefunctions after they had been used for a long time.


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Fig. 7. Influence of the maximum number of abrasioncycles on the durability on coated materials:

– PU coated materials, – PVC coated materials


Authors:

VIRGINIJA SACEVIČIENĖ1

MILDAA JUCIENE1

LORETA VEIKAUSKAIT2

1 Institute of Architecture and Construction, Kaunas University of TechnologyTunelio 60, 4405 Kaunas, Lithuania2 SE "Inland Waterways Authority"

Raudondvario pl. 113, LT-47186 Kaunas, LithuaniaHYPERLINK "mailto:[email protected]"mi

Corresponding authors:

MILDA JUCIENE [email protected]

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INTRODUCTIONThe main function of clothing is to protect the wearerfrom cold and heat. Clothing should also ensureappropriate heat transfer between the human bodyand its environment in order to maintain the physio-logical thermal balance of the wearer. Since it wasfound that a large portion of total comfort is thermalcomfort, the heat transfer characteristics of textilefabrics are very important in textile comfort evaluation[1]. Clothing comfort is closely related to thermalcomfort [2].The acceptability of a textile fabric largely dependson the comfort aspects which involve thermal proper-ties, air permeability and water vapour permeability.Although a plethora of researches have been con-ducted on the mechanical properties of textile fabrics,they have hardly played any role during the actualuse of the fabrics. In contrast, comfort propertiesdetermine the way in which the heat, air and watervapour are transmitted across the fabric. Thermalcomfort properties of textile fabrics are actually influ-enced by fiber, yarn and fabric properties. The type offiber, spinning technology, yarn count, yarn twist,yarn hairiness, fabric thickness, fabric cover factor,fabric porosity and finish are some of the factors,

which play decisive role in determining the comfortproperties of fabrics [3].The most important parameter that determines thecomfort of a cloth is the material, so fiber type is themost effective parameter in defining the comfort ofthe end-product. Fiber content is the ratio of presen-tation of different type of fibers in textile production.This factor determines the moisture absorbencywhich in turn affects the thermal balance of the prod-uct, the moisture vapour and liquid permeability, thedurability and the electrostatic properties in particularand all the other aforementioned properties of textilematerial in general [4].Clothing with good thermal comfort has an efficientrole in maintaining the heat and moisture balance ofa person by transferring the heat and moisture ofbody that change under different atmospheric condi-tions and/or during different activities [5].While designing a fabric, functional properties andbasic structural parameters of fabrics must be fullyunderstood [6]. A fabric consists of fibers and air. Thestill-air amount in fabric is more important than thefiber amount when thermal resistance is considered;still-air provides more thermal resistance in compari-son to a great number of textile fibers. Regarding this

An investigation on the thermal comfort properties of textiles fabricsmade of cellulose-based fibers

OKSAN ORAL


Studiu asupra proprietăților de confort termic al țesăturilor textile din fibre celulozice

În prezent, firele realizate din fibre celulozice naturale și artificiale sunt utilizate pentru obţinerea materialelor textile. Estedeja evident că tipul de materie primă și structura țesăturii influențează proprietăţile de confort. În timpul proiectării uneițesături, proprietățile funcționale și parametrii structurali de bază ai țesăturilor trebuie să fie pe deplin înțeleși. Confortulîmbrăcămintei este strâns legat de confortul termic. Scopul acestei lucrări este de a prezenta comparativ proprietățilede confort termic, cum ar fi: rezistența, conductivitatea şi absorbtivitatea termică, permeabilitatea la vapori de apă,permeabilitatea la aer, precum și alte proprietăți, ale țesăturilor din fire de bumbac, tencel, modal și cupro. Probele aufost testate cu ajutorul dispozitivelor Alambeta, Permetest, respectiv Textest FX3000. Rezultatele testelor au fostevaluate statistic și a fost determinat nivelul de importanță al relației dintre parametrii măsurați.

Cuvinte-cheie: permeabilitate la aer, țesătură celulozică, confort termic, rezistență termică, conductivitate termică,absorbtivitate termică, permeabilitate la vapori de apă

An investigation on the thermal comfort properties of textiles fabrics made of cellulose-based fibers

Yarns made of natural and man-made cellulose fibers are nowadays commonly applied in textiles. It is already apparentthat the type of raw material and fabric structure influences the properties of the comfort. While designing a fabric,functional properties and basic structural parameters of fabrics must be fully understood. Clothing comfort is closelyrelated to thermal comfort. The aim of this paper is to present a comparative of thermal comfort properties such asthermal resistance, thermal conductivity, thermal absorptivity, water vapour permeability, air permeability, and otherproperties for fabrics made of cotton, tencel, modal and cupro yarns. Samples were measured with the aid of Alambeta,Permetest, and Textest FX3000 devices respectively. The results of the tests were evaluated statistically and theimportance levels of the relationship between the measured parameters were determined.

Keywords: Air permeability, cellulose fabric, thermal comfort, thermal resistance, thermal conductivity, thermalabsorptivity, water vapour permeability.


matter, the amount of still-air within the structure ofknitted fabrics played an important role in terms ofthe thermal properties of fabric [7, 8].The aim of this paper is to present a comparative ofthermal comfort properties such as thermal resis-tance, thermal conductivity, thermal absorptivity,water vapour permeability, air permeability, and oth-ers properties for fabrics made of cotton, tencel,modal and cupro yarns.The effect of different materials and fabric construc-tions on the thermal properties was investigated byvarious researchers.Frydrych analysed thermal insulation properties(such as thermal resistance, thermal conductivity,thermal absorptivity) of fabrics made of cotton andtencel [9]. It was observed that the finished fabricsmade of tencel yarn showed lower values of thermalconductivity and thermal absorption than fabricsmade of cotton yarns, and higher values of thermaldiffusion and resistance. The influence of the type ofweave on thermal properties was observed for allfabrics made of cotton and tencel. Majumdar investigated the thermal properties of dif-ferent knitted fabric structures made from cotton,regenerated bamboo and cotton-bamboo blendedyarns [4]. It was found that the thermal conductivity ofknitted fabrics generally reduces as the proportion ofbamboo fiber increases. For the same fiber blendproportion, the thermal conductivity was lower forfabrics made from finer yarns. The thermal conduc-tivity and thermal resistance values of interlock fabricwas the maximum followed by the rib and plain fab-rics. The water vapour permeability and air perme-ability of knitted fabrics increase as the proportion ofbamboo fiber increases. The air permeability andwater vapour permeability values were higher forplain fabric as compared to those values of rib andinterlock fabrics.Stankovic studied knitted textile fabrics which aremade of hemp, cotton, and viscose yarns [2]. Thethermal properties and the properties closely relatedto the thermal behavior of fabrics (porosity and airpermeability) were investigated. The results obtainedindicate that heat transfer through the fabrics is high-ly related to both capillary structure and surface char-acteristics of yarns (a continuous package of shortfibers), as well as air volume distribution within thefabrics.Ozdil studied thermal comfort properties of the socksknitted with the most popular fibers such as wool,acrylic, cotton, and PA [10]. The results show thatthermal conductivity values of wool socks are lowerthan acrylic socks. Thermal resistance values ofwool-acrylic socks are higher than 100% acrylic socksand give warm sense at first contact. The sockswhich contain PA fibers give high thermal conductivi-ty and thermal absorptivity values.Cubric [8] studied thermal resistance of 33 single jer-sey knitted fabrics. It is observed a strong correlationbetween the thermal resistance of the knitted fabricand thickness, mass per unit area, cover factor andprosity. The results showed that the correlation of

fiber conductivity and the resistance of the knittedfabric to heat transfer is small (R = 0.32). It is to con-clude that the air entrapped in the knitted fabric struc-ture plays a prevalent role for thermal resistance ofthat kind of products.Ramakrishnan compared the properties of the knittedfabrics made out of micro denier and normal denierviscose yarns and investigated the physical, mechan-ical, comfort properties of them. It is concluded thatmicro denier fabrics have shown soperior propertieswhen compared to normal denier fabrics in variousaspects of physical, mechanical, comfort properties[11].Utkun studied 4 different fabrics which were manu-factured by utilizing cotton, tencel, bamboo, modalyarns and Dri-release yarn [7]. Thermal comfort prop-erties of these fabrics were analyzed. As it is obviousfrom the results, high-comfort fabrics can be manu-factured by using cotton and Drirelease yarns.

The fibers used in the studyCOTTON: Cotton fibers are natural hollow fibers;they are soft, cool, known as breathable fibers andabsorbent. They are strong, dye absorbent, itshygiene property, and can stand up against abrasionwear and high temperature. In one word, cotton iscomfortable. Cotton fiber is used especially in under-wear and active-wear manufacturing [1, 12].MODAL: Modal is a fiber obtained from the celluloseof beech. It is the trademark of Lenzing. The mostprominent feature of this fiber is that it is soft and radi-ant. Among the other properties, its low fiber hard-ness, smooth fiber surface, low yarn imperfection,high strength, natural softening material content andhigh chroma can be listed [13].TENCEL: Tencel is a natural, man-made fiber. It isproduced from natural cellulose in wood pulp. It hasgood moisture absorbency, comfort, luster and bio -degradability [14]. Its most prominent feature is that itis soft due to its smooth fiber structure, that it is high-strength and that it provides quite high water absorp-tion [7].CUPRO: Cupro is a genererated cellulosic fiber pro-duced from cellulose dissolved in a mixture of coppersulfate and ammonia, called cuprammonium liquor.The raw materials used are cotton linters and woodpulp [15]. This fiber is valuable and high perfor-mance. Biodegradation rate of the fiber is very fast.Cupro yarn is softer and smoother than cotton yarn.It brings the best features of both natural and syn-thetic fibers and cupro fabrics are very evident withtheir silky feeling even at the very first touch. The fab-ric is very soft and smooth and is skin friendly.

MATERIAL AND METHODIn this research, thermal comfort properties of singlejersey structures which were knitted appropriatemachine settings using 100% cotton, 100% modal,100% tencel, and 100% cupro yarns were studied. Allof yarns were Ne 30/1, ring.



Alambeta instrument was used to measure thermalconductivity, thermal resistance and thermal absorp-tivity values [16]. Relative water vapour permeabilitywas measured on Permetest instrument by similarprocedure as given by the ISO 11092 [17]. The num-ber of measurements is five for Alambeta and 3 forPermetest. All of the fabric samples were conditionedby keeping under standard atmospheric conditions(20 ± 2°C temperature and 65% ± 5 relative humidi-ty) for 24 hours before the experimental studies andthe contact pressure was 200 Pa in all cases. The CVvalues of all samples are lower than 3%.Air Permeability tests of the samples were carried outby using a Textest FX3000 testing machine in accor-dance with ISO 9237 standard specifications [18].The number of measurements is ten for TextestFX3300 (pressure was 100 Pa, measured area was20 cm²) and their average values were calculated.Porosity values were calculated using the equationgiven below.

P = (1 − m/ρ · h) 100 (1)where P = porosity, m = fabric weight (g cm–2),ρ = fiber density (g cm–3) and h = fabric thickness(cm) [10].The data obtained were analyzed by utilizing theSPSS 23.0 statistical package software. To deter-mine the statistical importance of the variations,ANOVA tests were applied. To deduce whether theparameters were significant or not, p values wereexamined. If p value of a parameter is greater than0.05 (p > 0.05), the parameter will not be importantand should be ignored.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONSThe fibers used in the study, yarn number, fabricthickness and fabric weight are given in table 1. Theresults on the thermal properties, relative watervapour permeability, air permeability, fabric thicknessand porosity are given in table 2.

The results of Anova Test “p-significance level” aregiven in table 3.According to statistical evaluation, the differencesbetween thermal conductivity values of the fabricsknitted with cotton, modal, tencel, and cupro yarnswere statistically significant. Thermal conductivity val-ues of fabrics were compared and it was found thatthermal conductivity of cotton fabrics higher than theothers. As cotton fabric had the lowest porosity in thisfour fibers, it is obvious that it had high thermal con-ductivity (figure 1).

Fig. 1. Thermal conductivity values of fabrics

STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE VALUES

p Thermalconductivity Thermal resistance Thermal

absorptivityWater vapour permeability

Air permeability

p 0.000* 0.001* 0.001* 0.351 0.000*

Table 3

THERMAL COMFORT PROPERTIES OF THE DIFFERENT FABRICS

MaterialFabric

thickness(mm)

Porosity

(%)

Thermalconductivity(Wm–1K–1)

Thermalresistance(m2KW–1)

Thermalabsorptivity(Ws½m–2K–1)

Water vapourpermeability

(%)

Airpermeability

(l /m2/s)100% Cotton 0,644 87,23 0,048 0,01343 126,6 59,5 1729100% Modal 0,554 87,61 0,04 0,013872 125,400002 61,76 2944100% Tencel 0,668 89,46 0,0404 0,016512 120,42 61,02 2855100% Cupro 0,629 89,34 0,0394 0,015966 105,859999 63,44 3458

Table 2

FABRIC PROPERTIES

Material Yarnnumber

Fabricthickness

(mm)

Fabricweight(g/m2)

100% Cotton Ne 30/1 0,644 125,8100% Modal Ne 30/1 0,554 105100% Tencel Ne 30/1 0,668 105,6100% Cupro Ne 30/1 0,629 102,5

Table 1

* p < 0.05 it is significant


Given the results in terms of thermal resistance, dif-ferences in thermal resistance values were statisti-cally significant. Tencel fabric had the highest value.As the fabric thickness increases, the thermal resis-tance increases (figure 2).When thermal absorptivity was investigated, differ-ences between thermal absorptivity values of the fab-rics were statistically significant. It was found that thethermal absorptivity values of the cotton was thehighest and cupro’s was the lowest (figure 3). Statistical evaluation shows that differences betweenwater vapour permeability values of fabrics weren’tstatistically significant. When the results were analyzed in terms of air per-meability, it was seen that differences between fab-rics were statistically significant. In these four fabrics,cupro fabric had high porosity and low thickness, soit indicated the highest air permeability value. It isseen that cotton which had the lowest porosity andhigh thickness, had the lowest air permeability valueall of them (figure 4).

CONCLUSIONSOn the basis of the results obtained, it is seen thatthere are many possibilities for creating fabric prop-erties which influence their comfort of use.

The greater the thermal conductivity, the greater heattransmission from the skin to the fabric. The cottonsample gave the highest values in this category, andthe cupro sample had the lowest values.Thermal absorption is related to thermal resistance.The increase in thermal absorption of textile materi-als leads to a cold feeling at first touch. Among thesamples, cupro sample gave the lowest, whereascotton gave the highest results. The order of the sam-ples from the lowest to the highest in terms of thermalabsorption is: cupro, tencel, modal, and cotton.Water vapour permeability is the ability of fabric totransfer water vapour in percentage scale. Especially,for products which are used in hot weather or foractive sports when perspiring is maximal, watervapour permeability is one of the most importantcomfort parameters. Garments which have highwater vapour permeability feature can easily ensureevaporation of moisture from body after sweating andenhance the sense of comfort [19].Air permeability is a hygienic property of textileswhich influences the flow of gas from the humanbody to the environment and the flow of fresh air tothe body. Air permeability depends on fabric porosity,which means the number of canals in the textile fab-ric, its cross-section and shape. Thermal propertiesare essentially influenced by air permeability [9]. Asthe air permeability and water vapour permeability ofcupro are high, it can be used in sportswear. Cupro is a fiber which has been used recently.Because its comfort properties are excellent, the useof cupro is increasing day by day. Cupro fabrics canbe used both in summer and winter. This fiber is con-sidered as an alternative fiber to cotton and regener-ated cellulose fibers.

Fig. 2. Thermal resistance values of fabrics

Fig. 3. Thermal absorptivity values of fabrics

Fig. 4. Air permeability values of fabrics


BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Stankocvic, S.,B., Popovic, D., Poparic, B.B. Thermal properties of textile fabrics made of natural and regeneratedcellulose fibers, In: Polimer Testing, 2007, vol. 27, pp. 41–48

[2] Ozdil, N., Marmaralı, A., Kretzschmar, S. Effect of yarn properties on thermal comfort of knitted fabrics, In:International Journal Of Thermal Science, 2007, vol. 46, pp. 1318–1322

[3] Majumdar, A., Mukhopadhyay, S., Yadav, R. Thermal properties of knitted fabrics made from cotton and regeneratedbamboo cellulosic fibers, In: International Journal Of Thermal Science, 2010, vol. 49, pp. 2042–2048.

[4] Ravandi, S.A., Valizadeh, M. Improving comfort in clothing, In: Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles, no. 106,ISBN: 978-1-84569-539-2, 2011, pp. 64–65

[5] Marmaralı, A., Kretzschmar, S.D., Özdil, N. and Oğlakçıoğlu, N.G. Parameters that affect thermal comfort ofgarment. In: Journal of Textile and Apparel, 2006, vol.16, issue 4, pp. 241–246

[6] Behera B.K. and Karthikeyan B. Artificial neural network-embedded expert system for the design of canopy fabrics.In: Journal of Industrial Textiles, 2006, vol. 36, issue 2, pp. 111–123

[7] Utkun, E. Comfort-related properties of woven fabrics produced from Dri-release® yarns, In: Industria Textila, 2014,vol. 65, no. 5, pp. 241–246

[8] Cubric I.S., Skenderi Z., Mihelic-Bogdanic A. and Andrassy M. Experimental study of thermal resistance of knittedfabrics. In: Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 2012, vol. 38, pp. 223–228

[9] Frydrych, I., Dziworska, G., Bilska, J. Comparative analysis of the thermal ınsulation properties of fabrics made ofnatural and man-made cellulose fibers, In: Fibers and Textiles in Eastern Europe, 2002, October-December,pp. 40–44

[10] Ozdil, N. A study on thermal comfort properties of the socks, In: Tekstil ve Konfeksiyon, 2008, vol. 18(2),pp. 154–158

[11] Ramakrishnan, G., Dhurai, B., Mukhopadhyay, S. An investigation into the properties of knitted fabrics made fromviscose microfibers, In: Journal of Textile and apparel Technology and Management, 2009, vol. 6 (1), pp. 1–9

[12] Gürcüm, H.B. Tekstil Malzeme Bilgisi, In: Güncel Publishers, Turkey, 2010, p. 520

[13] Avcı, H. Comfort properties of socks produced with new fibers, In: Master of Science Thesis, 2007, İstanbulTechnical University, Turkey.

[14] Hongu, T., Phillips, G., O., New Fibers, In: Woodhead Publishing Limited, England, 2001, pp. 193–194.

[15] Goswami, B.C., Anandjiwala, R.D., Hall, D.M. Textile Sizing, In: Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, 2004, p. 65.

[16] L. Hes, Thermal properties of nonwovens, In: Proceedings of Congress Index, 1987, 87, Geneva.

[17] ISO 11092, Textiles – Determination of physiological properties – Measurement of thermal and water vapourresistance under steady-state conditions (sweating guarded – hotplate test), 1993.

[18] ISO 9237-1999, “Textiles-Determination of permeability of fabrics to air”

[19] Oğlakçıoğlu, N., Marmaralı, A. Effect of Regenerated Cellulose Fibers on the Thermal Comfort Properties ofCompression Scoks, In: The Journal of Textiles and Engineer, 2008, 17(77).

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Author:

OKSAN ORAL

Ege UniversityBergama Technical and Business College

Bergama 35700Izmir –TURKEY

e-mail: [email protected]

INTRODUCTIONCreating and maintaining a functional vascularaccess site is crucial for patients with end stage kid-ney disease (ESKD) that require chronic hemodialy-sis.The first choice in creating the vascular access isthe radio-cephalicarterio-venous fistula [1]. Accordingto the Dialysis OutcomesQuality Initiative (DOQI)guidelines, peripheral arteriovenous (AV) fistulas orgrafts are the preferred type of access [2]. The use ofcentral venous catheters for chronic hemodialysis isbeing discouraged. It is well known that compared

to arteriovenous fistulas, central venous cathetershave a greater risk of infection and bacteremia [3].However in about 25% of the patients, peripheralvascular access is no longer obtainable, or it neverwas in the first place [4–5]. Central venous cannula-tion has proven to be more efficient via the internaljugular vein or the subclavian vein. Unfortunately thesubclavian vein is prone to a higher incidence offailure because of thrombosis or stenosis, and if steno -sis occurs it may prohibit the creation of an arterio -venous fistula to the ipsilateral arm [6]. Femoral

Emergency vascular access through a cuffed iliac vein catheter.A report of 2 cases

STELIAN PANTEA IUSTINIAN BENGULESCUDIANA UTU VICTOR STRAMBUCRISTIAN IORGA ALEXANDRU CHIOTOROIU


Accesul vascular de urgență printr-un cateter venos iliac tunelat. Raport cu 2 cazuri

Context: Crearea și menținerea unui acces vascular funcțional este crucială pentru pacienții cu boli de rinichi în fazăterminală (ESKD), care necesită hemodializă cronică. Pentru pacienții care au epuizat opțiunile convenționale de accesvascular și care nu se încadrează la dializă peritoneală sau care au avut cateterul peritoneal scos din cauzacomplicațiilor, utilizarea locurilor de acces pentru dializă neconvențională pentru cateterul intravascular reprezintăsingura opțiune până când va avea loc transplantul renal. Se prezintă 2 cazuri în care a fost creat un acces vascular deurgență neconvențional. Raport de caz: Cazul 1: Bărbat în vârstă de 60 de ani, cu ESKD pe hemodializă de menținere din august 1992.Pacientul a avut un istoric îndelungat de acces dificil la dializă, cu eșecul ambelor fistule și cateter tunelat. A fostefectuată o operație de urgență la câteva ore după ce pacientul a fost spitalizat și i s-a introdus un cateter tunelat învena iliacă comună, pe partea dreaptă. Pacientul s-a recuperat fără complicații. Cateterul este încă funcțional înmomentul scrierii acestui articol (872 zile).Cazul 2: femeie în vârstă de 58 de ani, cu ESKD, pe hemodializă de menținere din mai 2009. Pacientul a avut un istoricde acces dificil la dializă, cu eșecul ambelor fistule și cateter tunelat. A fost introdus un cateter tunelat în vena iliacăexternă dreaptă. Pacientul s-a recuperat fără complicații. Cateterul este încă funcțional în momentul scrierii acestuiarticol (500 de zile).Concluzie: Cateterele tunelate pentru vena iliacă reprezintă un loc fezabil de acces vascular și trebuie să fie luate înconsiderare atunci când alte locuri tradiționale nu mai sunt disponibile.

Cuvinte-cheie: raport de caz, cateter tunelat pentru vena iliacă, acces vascular, hemodializă

Emergency vascular access through a cuffed iliac vein catheter. A report of 2 cases

Background: Creating and maintaining a functional vascular access site is crucial for patients with end stage kidneydisease (ESKD), that require chronic hemodialysis. For those patients who have exhausted conventional vascularaccess options, and that are not candidates for peritoneal dialysis, or that had the peritoneal catheter removed due tocomplications, the use of nontraditional dialysis access sites for intravascular catheters is the only option while awaitingrenal transplantation. We present a series of 2 cases in which a nontraditional emergency vascular access was created. Case report: Case 1 a 60 years old male, with ESKD on maintenance hemodialysis since August 1992.The patient hada long history of difficult dialysis access with failure of both fistulas and cuffed catheters. We performed emergencysurgery a few hours after the patient was admitted and inserted a cuffed catheter in the right common iliac vein. Thepatient recovered without any complications. The catheter is still functional at the time this article was written (872 days)Case 2: 58 years old female, with ESKD on maintenance hemodialysis since May 2009.The patient had a history ofdifficult dialysis access with failure of both fistulas and cuffed catheters. We inserted an external right iliac vein cuffedcatheter. The patient recovered without any complications. The catheter is still functional at the time this article waswritten (500 days)Conclusion: Cuffed iliac vein catheters are a feasible vascular access site and should be considered when othertraditional sites are no longer available

Keywords: case report, iliac vein cuffed catheter, vascular access, hemodialysis


catheters have a high risk of complications such asexit site infections, bacteremia, thrombosis or evenlife threatening embolism. Patients that are not suit-able for hemodialysis, or for whom vascular access isno longer achievable have the option of peritonealdialysis. The technique regarding the placement of theperitoneal catheter was improved when the laparo-scopic approach was introduced [7–9].For those patients who have exhausted conventionalvascular access options, and that are not candidatesfor peritoneal dialysis, or that had the peritonealcatheter removed due to complications, the use ofnontraditional dialysis access sites for intravascularcatheters is the only option while awaiting renaltransplantation. Among this nontraditional vascularaccess sites literature data acknowledges the follow-ing methods: cannulation of the innominate vein bysurgically entering the superior vena cava, cannula-tion of the superior vena cava via right parasternalacces, cannulationof the small thoracic or neck col-laterals, cannulation of the hepatic vein via the tran-shepatic route, cannulating the azygos vein via thepercutaneous translumbar route, cannulating therenal vein via the percutaneous transrenal route, can-nulating the aorta via the femoral artery, surgical can-nulation of the inferior vena cava, intracardiac access[10–22]. Another alternative vascular access site isthrough the iliac vein [23–25]. In our report we pre-sent a series of two patients in which we created thevascular access through a cuffed tunneled iliac veincatheter.

CASE REPORTSCase 1The first patient was a 60 years old male, with ESKDon maintenance hemodialysis since August 1992.The patient had a long history of difficult dialysisaccess with failure of both fistulas and cuffedcatheters. During 1992–2000 a total of 7 arteriove-nous fistulas were performed on this patient with dif-ferent patency rates, as follows (figure 1–3): On theright upper extremity: 2 radio-cephalic fistulas, one-brachio-cephalic fistula and one brachio-basilic fistu-la with transposition of the basilica vein. On the leftupper extremity: 2 radio-cephalic fistulas were per-formed and one brachio-basilic fistula with transposition

of the basilica vein. Since 2000 because the patienthad no more peripheral venous capital, a peritonealdialysis catheter was inserted laparoscopically.Peritoneal dialysis lasted for almost 6 years(2000–2005). During these years the patient suffered3 episodes of acute peritonitis, and in September2005 the catheter was removed. Since September2005 he was back on hemodialysis which was per-formed through a series of catheters, both temporaryand permanent. He had 6 temporary catheters insert-ed and removed (one for each internal jugular vein,and 2 for each femoral vein) and 2 permanentcatheters (one for each internal jugular vein). Thepatient was admitted on the 21st of August 2012 withno vascular access patent for 72 hours, and nohemodialysis performed for the past 3 days, and withsymptoms of intestinal obstruction. The patient alsohad the following comorbidities: Hypertension,Anemia (Hb 10.2 g/dL, Ht 33.1%), Secondary hyper-parathyroidism, Virus C Hepatitis, Hyperkalemia(K 8.5 mmol/L), Trombocytopenia (119000/mm3).Biological blood samples also showed: creatinine15.68 mg/dL, urea 223 mg/dL, INR 2.22.Due to the patient’s status, the fact that he had hadno vascular access and no hemodialysis performedfor the past 72 hours, and that he was having symp-toms of bowel blockage, we performed emergencysurgery a few hours after the patient was admitted.During these hours we also tried to insert a catheterbut both the patients’ internal jugular veins, and bothfemoral veins were not permeable due to stenosis orthrombosis. The patient was put under general anes-thesia and we performed a median laparotomyrevealing the cause of the bowel blockage to beadherential syndrome. The presence of the adheren-tial syndrome also contraindicated the placement ofa peritoneal dialysis catheter. After performing vis-cerolisis we decided to insert a hemodialysis catheterin the iliac vein. We dissected the left common iliacvein and the left external iliac vein. At the origin of theleft common iliac vein and the last 3 cm of the leftexternal iliac vein we detected a fibroses presentwhich made the veins non-compressible, thereforemaking this veins non suitable for the placement of adialysis catheter. We then dissected the right com-mon iliac vein and the right external iliac vein. The


Figure 2Figure 1

right common iliac vein was compressible, perme-able, and showed no signs of stenosis or thrombosis.We then dissected it further separating it from thecommon iliac artery, clamped it at 2 cm above theinternal iliac vein ending. Then we performed a 3 mmtransversal venotomy and inserted the catheter. Priorto that a subcutaneous tunnel was performed and thecatheter was pulled through the abdomen wall.Afterverifying that the catheter was functional we suturedthe peritoneum so that the catheter is in fact retro -peritoneal placed.After that a Douglas drainage wasplaced followed by abdominal wall closure. 30 minuteafter the surgery the patient began hemodialysis. Thepatient recovered without any complications, bowelmovement restored 3 days after the surgery, and atthe time of the discharge he had performed 8 hemo -dialysis sessions. The catheter is still functional at thetime this article was written (607 days).

Case 2The second patient was a 58 years old female, withESKD on maintenance hemodialysis since May2009. The patient had a history of difficult dialysisaccess with failure of both fistulas and cuffedcatheters. During 2009–2013 a total of 3 arteriove-nous fistulas were performed on this patient with dif-ferent patency rates, as follows: On the right upperextremity: one brachio-cephalic fistula that waspatent for 4 months. On the left upper extremity: oneradio-cephalic fistula was performed and one bra-chio-cephalic fistula. The combined patency rate was4 years. The patient also had a history of dialysiscatheters that included: temporary jugular andfemoral catheters, bilaterally, permanent cuffed sub-clavian and femoral catheters and since May 2013hemodialysis was performed through a right subcla-vian cuffed catheter. The patient was admitted on the28th of August 2013 with no vascular access patentfor 72 hours, and no hemodialysis performed for thepast 3 days.The patient also had the following comor-bidities: Hypertension, Anemia (Hb 9,8 g/dL, Ht 30.4%),Hyperkalemia (K 6.6 mmol/L), right femoral veinthrombosis. Biological blood samples also showed:creatinine 8.45 mg/dL, urea 9 mg/dL, Na 139 mmol/L.

Due to the patient’s status, the fact that she had hadno vascular access and no hemodialysis performedfor the past 72 hours, the fact that she refused peri-toneal dialysis and because all attempts at insertinganother dialysis catheter were unsuccessful we per-formed emergency surgery with the intention ofinserting a catheter in the iliac vein. The patient wasput under general anesthesia and an umbilical-supra-pubic incision was made. We than entered the retro -peritoneal space and dissected the external right iliacvein. The vein was compressible and permeable andafter clamping it we made a transversal 3 cm incisionand inserted the catheter. Prior to that a subcuta-neous tunnel was performed and the catheter waspulled through the abdomen wall. After verifying thatthe catheter was functional we sutured the peri-toneum so that the catheter is in fact retroperitonealplaced. After that Douglas drainage was placed fol-lowed by abdominal wall closure. 30 minute after thesurgery the patient began hemodialysis The patient recovered without any complications,bowel movement restored 2 days after the surgery,and at the time of the discharge he had performed5 hemodialysis sessions. The catheter is still func-tional at the time this article was written (313 days).

DISCUSSIONWith the current shortage of donors for renal trans-plant, and due to the increased number of patientswith ESKD that require dialysis, and considering thata large proportion of patients cannot perform peri-toneal dialysis, obtaining and maintaining vascularaccess becomes crucial. The arterio-venous fistulasas described by Cimino and Brescia remains the firstchoice, but for the patients that can no longer havefistulas performed, vascular catheters remain theirlifeline [26]. Cuffed tunneled right atrial cathetersin-serted into the jugular or subclavian veins permitadequate blood flow for dialysis. The femoral veins-may be used in situations where the jugular orsub-clavian veins are not available. But where all thesetraditional vascular access sites are no longer patentuntraditional sites have to be considered. The iliacveins, as shown in literature data can provide feasi-ble vascular access [23, 24, 25]. We chose this type of access for our 2 patients andmanaged to obtain good vascular access followed bya long patency rate. Considering the status of thepatients on admittance we preferred to insert thiscatheters through a surgical approach, minimalizingthe risk of complications such as: perforation of theperitoneum, bowel perforation, uncontrollable hemor-rhage, perforation of the iliac artery. Cuffed iliac veincatheters are a feasible vascular access site andshould be considered when other traditional sites areno longer available.Acknowledgement“This paper is supported by the Sectoral OperationalProgramme Human Resources Development (SOP HTD),financed from the European Social Fund and by theRomanian Government under the contract numberPOSDRU/187/1.5/S/155631”.


Figure 3


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STELIAN PANTEA1,2

DIANA UTU1,2

CRISTIAN IORGA3

IUSTINIAN BENGULESCU3

VICTOR STRAMBU3

ALEXANDRU CHIOTOROIU4

1 2ndSurgery Clinic, Timisoara Emergency CountyHospital no 1, Romania

2 Department of General Surgery, University of Medicineand Pharmacy “V. Babes” Timisoara, Romania

3 Surgery Clinic, Bucharest “Dr Carol Davila”Nephrology Hospital

4 Surgery Hospital Floreasca Bucharest, Romania

Corresponding author:CRISTIAN IORGA

email: [email protected]

Authors:

INTRODUCTIONThe widespread use of computers and the develop-ments in information technology (IT) have causedimportant changes in everyday life. With the use of3D technology and virtual reality techniques, IT hasbecome popular in new fashion industry, featuringconsumer-centered service and production methods.In recent years, due to the high production cost, theinternational market power of the fashion industryhas lost its strength mostly. In order to find a solutionfor this problem, new markets should be built withtechnology-intensive fashion industry. Virtual clothingsimulation software effected the fashion industry’sIT-based digitalization positively and caused techno-logical developments which have the potential to adaptexisting 2D (two-dimensional) design work to 3Ddesign work virtually. These changes have enabledthe fashion industry to increase the profits [1].

Trying on clothes physically is a time-consuming pro-cess in retail shopping. Before making a decisionabout the color, size and design of clothes, the shop-per wants to try on different clothes. Virtual try-onsoftware solves this problem by speeding up the pro-cess and enabling users to see the clothes on theirbody without actually wearing them or by minimizingtheir choices before physical try-on. Also, it providesnew features for users, such as comparing differentclothes side by side and seeing the outfits from dif-ferent angles simultaneously.A literature overview allows highlighting some earliersystems based on image processing techniques.Cordier et al. (2001) described a framework for a webbased solution using a generic database for dressinga user look-alike clothed avatar and simulating theclothes on the avatar [2]. Hilsmann and Eisert (2009)presented a dynamic texture overlay method in a vir-tual environment from monocular images for real-time


MEHMET DAYIK HAKAN YÜKSELOĞUZ ÇOLAK


Sistem virtual de probare a îmbrăcămintei în timp real

Probarea virtuală a intrat recent în atenția cercetătorilor datorită potențialului său comercial. Aceasta poate fi folosită caun instrument eficient în cumpărăturile on-line, permițând utilizatorilor să-și restrângă opțiunile la câteva modele șidimensiuni. În acest studiu, a fost propus un sistem virtual 3D real de probare a îmbrăcămintei, care le permiteutilizatorilor să-și poată vizualiza corpul pe un monitor virtual, purtând haine virtuale și fără a se dezbrăca de hainelereale. Instrumentul le permite, de asemenea, utilizatorilor să aleagă diverse articole de îmbrăcăminte pentru a le proba.Cel mai important aspect al acestei lucrări este că, prin utilizarea unui senzor de mișcare și de captură a scheletului,sunt calculate dimensiunile corpului utilizatorului. Prin compararea dimensiunilor corpului calculate cu măsurătorile dinstandardele pentru dimensiunile corpului, dimensiunea corpului utilizatorului poate fi estimată cu ajutorul unui sistemexpert, iar aceste date sunt utilizate pentru o ajustare corespunzătoare pe corp și pentru simularea îmbrăcămintei pesistemul virtual de probare a îmbrăcămintei. Hainele sunt selectate printr-o mișcare a mâinii din lista de îmbrăcămintede pe ecran, iar utilizatorii pot vizualiza, astfel, îmbrăcămintea aleasă prin afișare virtuală pe propriul lor corp. Aceststudiu reprezintă o contribuție la literatura de specialitate actuală, oferind o abordare originală, care aduce o nouăperspectivă asupra scanării corpului, determinării dimensiunilor corpului și simulării îmbrăcămintei virtuale în sectorul deîmbrăcăminte.

Cuvinte-cheie: scanarea corpului, dimensiunea corpului, probare virtuală, grafică pe calculator, senzor Kinect


Virtual clothes try-on has recently come into the researchers’ focus owing to its commercial potential. It can be used asan efficient tool in online shopping, allowing users to narrow down their choices to a few designs and sizes. In this study,a real 3D virtual clothes try-on system is proposed, which makes it possible for users to see themselves on a virtualmonitor, wearing virtual clothes without taking off their real clothes. The tool also allows users to choose various clothesto try on.The most important point in this paper is that by using a motion and skeleton capture sensor, the user’s bodymeasurements are computed. By comparing the computed body sizes with the measurements in the body sizestandards, the user’s body size can be estimated via an expert system and these data are used for proper clothes fittingand clothes simulation in our virtual try-on system. Clothes are selected by hand motion from the clothing list on thescreen and users can thus view the clothing of their choice virtually displayed on their body. This study contributesto the current literature by offering an original approach, which brings a new perspective on body scanning, bodydetermination and virtual clothing simulation in the clothing sector.

Keywords: body scan, body size, virtual try-on, computer graphics, Kinect sensor


visualization of garments in a “Virtual ClothingSystem”. It consisted in taking the user’s picture inminimum clothes and covering it with a picture of amodel wearing desired clothes [3]. In their research,Thanh and Gagalowicz (2009) describe a systemthat provides users the possibility to load their own3D model, choose 3D clothes from a list and super-impose them on the model interactively [4]. The workof Spanlang et al. (2004) was also based on the ideaof superimposing a pre-generated 3D human modelin target clothes on a user’s 2D picture [5]. Anotherstudy reported a virtual clothing system, in which auser is scanned and registered to the system once,and then clothes can be simulated on the recon-structed model [6]. Li et al. (2011) implemented aweb-based platform allowing interactive viewing ofclothes simulation, as well as selection of differenthairstyles and other accessories on a model [7].In addition to these studies, some interactive virtualtry-on solutions using new sensor technology havebeen recently reported. The requirement of accuratepose recovery for fitting virtual clothes on a user’simage is a challenging problem in this technology[8–9]. The new generation of sensing technologies,which have the capacity of providing high qualityvideos of both color and depth, enable researchers toincrease the capabilities of virtual try-on solutions[10–11]. Givonni et al. (2012) describes a virtual try-on system, which provides performance comparisonsof their system with two skeletal tracking SDKs:Kinect and OpenNI for Windows SDK [12]. Using theMicrosoft Kinect Sensor, a virtual dressing roomapplication is produced [13]. Yolcu, Kazan and Oz(2014) also presented a real-time image processingapproach that offers the possibility to try on virtualgarments in front of a virtual mirror [14]. Kumari andBankar’s system (2015) enabled users to try onclothes of different styles and various sizes in a virtu-al environment rather than trying them on physically,which made the process of trying on and choosingclothes easier [15]. Kim and Cheeyong (2015) creat-ed an application in which a depth camera was usedto capture the figure of a user standing in front of alarge display screen. With this system, user’s conve-nience was provided by assuming the role of a pro-fessional fashion coordinator giving an appearancepresentation [1].These developed simulation systems are innovationsthat keep up with the new developments of the sec-tor, and can have a great impact on the consumers’shopping strategy and attitude. From the consumer’sperspective, trying on clothes is a time-consumingphysical activity. Moreover, most of the shopping sys-tem has the disadvantage that clothes try on is nec-essary in order to assure that the product fits on thecustomer’s body.Today, the development of these simulation systemsaccelerates the process of consumer decision mak-ing and provides the opportunity of increasing theprobability of purchasing.In this work, a virtual clothes try-on system has beendeveloped using a contactless motion and skeleton

capture sensor and combining real body measure-ment with size estimation. With the help of this origi-nal software, clothes can be tried on in real-time.Being based on both real human body measurementand estimated body size, this approach increases theapplicability of simulation systems.

MATERIALKinect depth sensor was launched onto the market in2010 by Microsoft. The sensor’s perception specialtyoccurred automatically in plays with XBo360 gameconsole [16]. However, Microsoft also developed theSoftware Development Kit (SDK), which allowedapplying Kinect to computer system [17]. With thissoftware development tool, it became possible to cre-ate interactive applications using the sensor, whichhas attracted considerable attention of the researchcommunity.Kinect is a 3D depth sensor consisting of an RGBcamera, an infrared projector combined with aninfrared camera and four microphones (figure 1).Also, at its base, there is a tilt motor, which enablesthe sensor to move up and down [18]. The RGB cam-era and the depth camera have horizontal and verti-cal viewing ranges of 57.5° and 43.5° degrees.Kinect can also angle up and down within –27 to +27degrees. In normal mode, the territory of the depthcamera ranges between 0.8 and 4 m and in nearmode, it is at least 0.4 – 3 [15]. In this work, we pre-ferred Kinect SDK 1.8 library in order to reach theresources of the sensor. For this study, the sensorwas placed at 600 mm height from the floor and at2000 mm distance from the scanned user. The sen-sor’s field of view is nearly 6 m2.

PROPOSED SYSTEMIn this work, the user’s body measurements are com-puted by using a motion and skeleton capture sensor.Using these measurements, body size estimation forthe virtual clothing try-on system was performed. Inorder to make a rule base in the size estimation part,the developed expert system contains a databasewith “Body Size Standards” [19]. The system can esti-mate the user’s real body size according to the mea-surements captured by the sensor. After the bodydetermination needed for virtual clothing, the user is


Fig. 1. Microsoft Kinect sensor

dressed in the selected clothes in the virtual clothingpart, according to the estimated body size. Thus, theuser is clothed in the selected outfit in a contactlessmanner in front of the sensor. Figure 2 shows the pro-posed system’s architecture.

User extractionBy extracting the user, it is possible to create an aug-mented reality environment by isolating the user areafrom the video stream and superimposing it onto avirtual environment in the user interface.The depth image and the user ID are provided byKinect SDK. During the process, the depth image issegmented in order to separate the background fromthe user. The background is removed by blending theRGB image with the segmented depth image foreach pixel by setting the alpha channel to zero if thepixel does not lie on the user.

Skin segmentationThe user always stays behind the model, whichrestricts some possible actions of the user, such asholding hands in front of the clothes or folding arms,because the model is superimposed on the top layer.As a solution to this problem, skin colored areas arefound and brought to the front layer. For skin colorsegmentation, RGB, HSV and YCbCr color spacesare mostly used. In this work, we preferred YCbCrcolor space and the RGB images that are turned intoYCbCr color space by using the following equations:

Y = 0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B

Cb= 128 – 0.169R – 0.332G + 0.5B (1)

Cr = 128 + 0.5R – 0.419G – 0.081B

Chai and Ngan (1999) described the most represen-tative color ranges of human skin on YCbCr colorspace [20]. Within the following ranges, a threshold isapplied to the color components of the image:

77 < Cb< 127

133 < Cr < 173 (2)

Y < 70

The threshold is applied only on the pixels that lie onthe user, because we have the extracted user imageas a region of interest. So, the areas on the back-ground that may resemble the skin color are not pro-cessed.

Computing real measurementThe Kinect sensor can catch the pose data in depthand RGB poses. The RGB camera can get 30 framesand each frame has a resolution of 640480 pixels. Italso has different frame and pose resolution possibil-ities. From the depth poses taken by the sensor,depth measure parameters can be computed byusing camera measuring methods.The raw depth distance of the sensor's depth per-ception is 211. During the measuring process, depthknowledge must be turned into real depth knowl-edge. Each pixel’s real measures are computed withthe following equations 3, 4 and 5.

fxirXir = (x – cxir)dm

fyir (3)Yir = (y – cyir)dm

Zir = dm

Xrgb Xir(Yrgb) = (Yir)R + T (4)Zrgb Zir

Xrgb + fxrgbXrgb = + cxrgbZrgb

(5)Yrgb + fyrgb

Yrgb = + cyrgbZrgb

X and Y depth coordinates of the pixel position areindicated by fxir and fyir focal length, cxir and cyir cam-era point position of infrared perceivers, and dm,which means the depth of meter. In RGB mapping,the slope conversion of the infrared sensor betweencolor pose and depth pose is shown as R and itstranslation is T. As Xrgb, Yrgb, Zrgb give the position ofthe RGB camera in the 3D coordinate system, xrgband yrgb consist of the knowledge of the 2D plane,corresponding to the RGB camera’s x and y depthpose.

Computing body size from skeleton posesIn Kinect SDK, a skeleton stream object is used tokeep the skeleton pose data sets and their special-ties. The RGB data sets and the Depth data setsobjects are benefited. There are 3 different streamsand frame specialty in Kinect SDK.The usage of raw depth data by the sensor is limited.To use these data correctly and interactively, besides


Fig. 2. Architecture of the system

RGBDcamera

Usersegmentation

Skinsegmentation

Bodymeasurements

Body sizecustomization

Clothessimulation

depth data, other RGB and skeleton data sets pro-vided by the sensor are needed. Many skeleton points on the human body can bedetected with the skeleton capture system. These arethe hands, head, body, legs etc. x, y, z data of thesedetected skeleton points can be computed.The application detects the x, y, z coordinates of 20different skeleton points in the 3D space. By comput-ing the distances of each skeleton point, the user’sbody measurements are determined. The Euclideantheorem is used to calculate the linear distancebetween two different skeleton points.In 3D space, in order to calculate the linear distancebetween the first skeleton point defined asP = (px, py, pz) and the second skeleton point definedas Q = (qx, qy, qz), equation 6 is used.

√(p1 – q1)2 + (p2 – q2)2 + ... + (pn – qn)2

n (6)√ (pi – qi)2

i=1

With the computed values, the human body’s height,shoulder, arm, leg, body can also be computed. Bodysizes can be estimated by comparing these valuesaccording to the rule base of the expert system, con-taining the information of the database.This expert system comprises 30 rules, divided intofour categories, thus forming 4 different rule bases,as follows: top and bottom clothes, and women’s andmen’s clothes. These rule bases are establishedaccording to the data of the general Body SizeStandard [19].

Virtual clothes try-onIn the body sizing part, body size can be estimated bytaking body measurements. After determining theuser’s body size, he/she can use the virtual clothingmodule. The virtual clothing try-on part is the simula-tion showing how the clothes fit on the user.The clothes in the virtual clothing part are divided intotwo categories, as top product group and bottomproduct group. In the database, the top productgroups, including shirts, t-shirts, dresses, and thebottom product group, comprising shorts, skirts, havedifferent locations. In the virtual clothing try-on, theskeleton data are used to set the clothes accuratelyon the user in the database (figure 3).In this part, after body size determination, the usercan select the clothes from the bottom side of theapplication. It is also possible to categorize theclothes that will be tried on to list as top products orbottom products, if wanted. The user can select theclothes that he/she wants try on by using the left orright hand to control the development software.If the selected clothing is a product from the catego-ry of the top product group, the Centre of Shoulderskeleton point is taken as reference, and if it is fromthe bottom product group, the Centre of Hip skeletonpoint is taken as reference, these being provided totry on the clothes on the RGB pose set. In order tocontinue to try on different clothes, the clothing on the

user can be removed by the “clear” option in theapplication.

RESULTThe most important feature of the real-time virtualclothing application is the appropriateness of the sizeof the clothes shown on the display to the user’s realbody sizes, and adjusting the results for accurateposing on the screen. Thus, this developed applica-tion contains a background for the accurate comput-ing of body measurements and correct estimation ofbody sizes. To evaluate the effectiveness of the appli-cation, a total of 30 users, 15 male and 15 female,were chosen, with ages ranging between 20 and 35,and with different body sizes. Their height, shoulderwidth, arm, leg and body measurements were taken(table 1).In order to compute the data, each user was asked tostand in the same pose for 10 seconds. Quantitativedata were collected from the sensor (table 2) and


Fig. 3. Virtual try-on

Measurements Explanation

Height (H) Measurement of height

Shoulder (S)Measurement of taken from theoutside edge of a shoulder to theoutside edge of the other shoulder

Arm (A) Length of the armLeg (L) Length of the legBody (B) Length between the neck and hip

Table 1

n Min Max X SD

Height (H) 30 155,00 184,00 170,93 8,10Shoulder (S) 30 30,00 48,00 40,30 4,00Arm (A) 30 54,00 63,00 59,50 2,16Leg (L) 30 99,00 112,00 105,60 3,56Body (B) 30 45,00 69,00 57,30 7,37

Table 2

n = count; Max = maximum; Min = minimum; SD = standard deviation

manually taken measurements. The data were thenanalyzed using the Statistics programme.30 different users’ Height (H), Shoulder (S), Arm (A),Leg (L) and Body (B) measurements were computedto test the accuracy of the results using the sensorscanner. Height measurements of the users rangedfrom 155.00 to 184.00 cm, with an average of 170.93cm. The shoulder measurements of the users rangedfrom 30.00 to 48.00 cm, the average being 40.30 cm.The arm measurements ranged from 54.00 to 63.00cm and the average was 59.50 cm. The leg mea-surements of the users ranged from 99.00 to 112.00cm, with the average of 105.60 cm. The body mea-surements ranged from 45.00 to 69.00 cm and theaverage was 57.30 cm.

Comparing the sensor data with manually takendataThe results of the paired t-test are presented in table 3.The standing posture body measurements acquiredfrom the sensor show a difference ranging between–1.00 and –1.47 cm from the manually taken mea-surements.Upon examining the data in table 3, it may beremarked that there is no significant differencebetween the sensor acquired data and the real data.Although sensor calibrations are provided, minimaldifferences can be explained by the deformation inthe captured images and by the user’s improperstanding position. However, these differences arevery small, near to the minimum percentage level,therefore, it can be concluded that the results arevery close to the real values.

CONCLUSIONSCompanies in the clothing sector need to continuallyimprove their current technologies in order to havesuccess and continuity on the market in a globalizedworld economy. Indeed, the cost and the arrival timeof the products have decreased, the quality of theproducts has increased, and virtual clothing, bodyscanning and body sizing applications have emergedwith the developments in the textile industry.In this study, size estimation was carried out bymeans of a Kinect sensor, one of the most importantproducts of Microsoft, and compared to manual bodymeasurement. After the user’s body measurementswere computed, he/she was able to try on the clothesdefined in the system with the sensor in the virtualclothing module.In the 21st century, human habits are changing.Instead going shopping and trying on clothes, whichis time-consuming and requires an extra effort, virtu-al clothing applications are becoming increasinglypopular. However, the biggest problem here is toaccurately define the user’s body size and to corre-late it with that of virtual clothing. Body size estima-tion is thus the most important factor in virtual cloth-ing applications.Due to the high performance of the virtual clothingapplications in body size assessment, users can tryon clothes that fit accurately to their sizes. By meansof the contactless controlling system, the presentedapplication offers users the possibility to try onclothes easily and in a short time. These advantagesalso have a positive effect on the time of decisionmaking.


Sensor acquired Real dataDifference

X SD X SDHeight (H) 170,93 8,10 172,40 8,07 –1,47Shoulder (S) 40,30 4,00 41,36 3,98 –1,06Arm (A) 59,50 2,16 60,50 2,30 –1,00Leg (L) 105,60 3,56 106,73 3,46 –1,13Body (B) 57,30 7,37 58,66 7,22 –1,36

Table 3

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Authors:

MEHMET DAYIK1

OĞUZ ÇOLAK2

HAKAN YÜKSEL3

1 Süleyman Demirel University, Department of Textile EngineeringIsparta, Turkey

2 Anadolu University, Department of Mechanical EngineeringEskişehir, Turkey

3 Süleyman Demirel University, Technical Science Vocational SchoolIsparta, Turkey

e-mail: [email protected], [email protected],[email protected]

Corresponding author:HAKAN YÜKSEL

[email protected]

INTRODUCTIONMethods of humidity measuring can be generallydivided into hygroscopic and condensation methods.In the first category of devices, which are classifiedas resistive and capacitive sensors, the electricalproperties of materials change as a result of absorb-ing moisture from the environment. In the condensinghygrometers using sensors with a chilled mirror,humidity is determined indirectly by measuring thedew point. [1, 3, 13]Capacitive relative-humidity sensor is similar to acapacitor structure. The sensor consists of two metalelectrodes and between them there is a thin layer ofan absorbent polymer acting as a dielectric. The sur-face of an upper electrode is usually porous, whichaim to protect the hygroscopic layer against conden-sation and dirt. The substrate of the sensor is usual-ly made of glass, ceramic or silicon. Changing thedielectric constant of the absorbent material is pro-portional to the relative humidity surrounding thesensor. Hygrometers capacitance change from 0.2 to0.5 pF while the relative humidity change of 1% anda nominal capacity of from 100 to 500 pF under 50%RH and 25 °C. The response time of capacitive sen-sors is typically from 30 to 60 s. The technology of sensors based on the textile struc-tures is one of the major developing areas in the con-text of textronics [1, 2, 5, 14]. The humidity sensor intextiles application can help to evaluate effort duringexercises and measures the humidity of the skin (fig-ure 1).

Despite considerable research in the field of humidi-ty sensors, only a few systems based on flexible sub-strates have been commercialized so far. The mainproblems are the characteristics of the textile sensor,changing signals in time and repeatability of electricalparameters [6, 8, 12, 13]. In this paper authors presented the method of obtain-ing the flexible humidity sensor on the textile sub-strate with the use of different kinds of textile elec-trodes. The sensor constructed in the presented waycan be easily integrated with the clothes using typicalsawing machines. The repeatability characteristics ofthe sensor is a crucial point in the application formonitoring chosen vital signs [9, 10].


Senzori capacitivi de umiditate integrați în textile prin tehnica de imprimare

Această lucrare prezintă rezultatele de proiectare și cercetare a senzorilor capacitivi de umiditate integrați în textileflexibile. Au fost analizate diverse structuri de senzori realizate prin tehnici diferite. Autorii au prezentat două tipuri destructuri textile componente. Aceste structuri sunt formate din electrozi textili și o umplutură din material textil. Testeleau fost efectuate într-o cameră climatică, care permite reglarea și controlul temperaturii și al umidității relative. Deasemenea, au fost prezentate exemple de utilizare a senzorilor din domeniul textronicii în aplicații integrate înîmbrăcăminte.

Cuvinte-cheie: textronică, senzori integrați în materiale textile, măsurare, textile electroconductoare


In the paper there are presented the design and research results of flexible textile capacitive humidity sensor. Varioussensor structures made with different techniques were considered. The authors have presented two types of componenttextile structures. These structures consist of textile electrodes and a textile filling. Tests were performed in a climatechamber, which enables to set and control the temperature and relative humidity. The examples of application oftextronics sensors in clothing applications were also presented.

Keywords: Textronics, textile sensors, measurement, electroconductive textiles



M. FRYDRYSIAK L. TESIOROWSKI

Fig. 1. Example of humidity measurement due toevaporation of the skin by textronic system for runners


FUNCTIONAL PRINCIPLE AND MEASUREMENTMETHODSIn figure 2 there is presented the structure and quali-tative measurement model of the textile relativehumidity sensor [15]. The sensor consists of two tex-tile electrodes made of an electrically conductivematerial. Textile filling made of dielectric material isplaced between the electrodes. The whole structurehas been combined with a fleece/non-woven fabricwith glue. Textile filling absorbs moisture, therebychanging the dielectric permeability, which is a resultof the capacity changes.In the figure 2 there is presented a quality model ofthe measurement. The variables input values aretemperature of 30, 40 T, °C and humidity from 30 to90 RH %. The range of changes was selected inaccordance with the changes of human physiologicalparameters. In these ranges the sensors can work.The research was done for constant variants of mate-rials (two kinds of sensors). The measurement valueis the sensors capacity Cp.The authors of the paper have been looking for thematerials which are flexible and could be used formaking the humidity sensor. The choice of materialdepended on the electroconductive properties [16].The microscopic images of the electroconductivelayer and non-conductive hydroscopic filling are pre-sented in table 1. The measurement of the surface

resistance distribution on the textile electrodes wasmade with the use of the ELCA3433A measuringbridge. The results were read after establishing themeter indications. The research was carried out foran ambient temperature: 21 °C and relative humidityof 60%, RH. The results are presented in figures 3and 4.In the first variants of construction, for the electrodesof the capacitive sensor there are selected nonwovenelectrical conductive materials. As a filling the woolmaterial was selected. The felt was a dielectric filling.Its hygroscopicity is the highest of all fibers. The non-woven capacitance was measured with the use of anAgilent E4980A instrument. The measurements were

Fig. 2. Structure of capacitive textronic humidity sensor

Fig. 3. Distribution of surface resistance onthe nonwovens electrodes

Fig. 4. Distribution of surface resistance on the printingwoven electrodes

Materials Textile polyamide,non woven electrodes

Textile cotton,woven electrodes Wool dielectric substrates

Photo

Resistance R, [W] 0,25 0,12 Non conductive

Thickness d, [mm] 2,5 0,7 3

Table 1


made in a normal climate, the capacity was Cp = 9.8pF. Electrodes were printed by NANO INK AX JP-60n.The used ink is characterized by good electrical prop-erties and low resistance values. A printer uses sin-gle-component composition of the silver-filled elec-tro-conductive nanometer-sized. The compositionhas characteristics that allow the use of the Ink JetPrinting technique on different types of flexible poly-meric substrates. The ink filler is silver powder withan average size of 50 nm. The silver powder takes aspecial type of protective sheath which allows obtain-ing a stable liquid without the effects of sedimentationor agglomeration of filler. It also enables to achievefull stability of all parameters, which is a very impor-tant factor especially in the printing Ink Jet processtechnology. The microscope image of ink is present-ed in figure 5.Numerically controlled prototype printer was built forprinting on textiles. The maximum working area of theprinter is 210 297 mm. The printer uses DOD printtechnology and printing head REA JET EDS that wasshown in figure 6. Mach3 studio software was usedfor controlling the printer.

RESEARCHIn the qualitative measuring model, the input quantity(leading) was the relative air humidity varying in therange from 30 to 90% for constant temperature val-ues of 30°C and 40°C. These values were chosenadequately to the possible applications of the sensor,which could be placed between the textile layer pack-ets. The output quantity was the change of the textilesensor capacitance. The study was performed in aclimate chamber. Basic parameters of the used cli-matic chamber:1. Internal dimensions of the chamber: 600500500

mm (width depth height);2. Temperature range: from –70°C to 150°C;3. Accuracy of temperature: 0.5°C ± at ambient pres-

sure;4. Accuracy of relative humidity: ± 3...5%.The capacity was measured by a RLC ELC 3133bridge with frequency of 1 kHz, after indication set-tling of the capacity. In the figure 7 and figure 8 there

is presented the relationship of capacity sensors as afunction of humidity by two temperature values of30°C and 40°C for two technologies of electrodes.The test of the sensors stability during the time of twotypes of sensors in two temperature points weremade. The measurement results are shown in figure9 and figure 10.

Fig. 5. Microscopic photo of electrical conductivesilver-based ink on a glass layer

Fig. 7. The capacity changes as a function of relativehumidity with nonwoven electrodes

Fig. 6. Printer for textiles functionalization (A),Printing head Rea Jet: 1 – print head, 2 – cable for ink,

3 – control signal wire (B)

B

A


One of the parameters of textile, capacitive humiditysensors is a dissipation factor (tan d) or DF and it isdefined as the ratio of the ESR and capacitive reac-tance and can be calculated from equation (1):

ESRDF = tan d = (1)XC

where:DF is dissipation factor;

ESR – Equivalent Series Resistance is a sum of theohmic losses of a dielectric materials andconnections used in the construction of thecapacitor;

XC – reactance.That determines the energy loss. These losses in thecapacitor are the resulting of the leakage of thedielectric and electrode’s resistances. The measuredchange of t tan a for the tested sensors in theresponse to changes in humidity and at two temper-atures points is presented in figures 11 and 12 bymeasuring frequency 1 kHz.The nonwoven and printed sensors have a form of aflat capacitor. The capacity can be expressed by anequation (2).

e0 er SC = (2)

dWhere:C is capacity; e0 – dielectric vacuum constant 8,854210–12 F/m;er – dielectric constant of dielectric wool material;d = 3 mm – thickness of dielectric material (space

between electrodes);S = 9 mm2 – electrodes surface.The dielectric constant of material used for a con-struction of studied sensors was measured and it is iser = 1,19. This value was obtained in normal climate(20°C and RH = 60%). The capacity calculated by anexpression (2) is 3,15 pF. This value is less than themeasured capacity of sensors because it includesonly dimension of the electrodes without their capac-ity changes in the function of humidity

Fig. 8. The capacity changes as a function of relativehumidity with printing electrodes

Fig. 9. The capacity changes in time for the two testedtextile sensors at 30 °C and RH 50%

C1 – nonwoven capacity sensor; C2 – woven capacitysensor

Fig. 11. Change of DF dissipation factor in a function ofhumidity for nonwoven sensor, T1 = 30°C; T2 = 40°C

Fig. 12. Change of DF dissipation factor in a function ofhumidity for printed electrodes sensor, T1 = 30°C;

T2 = 40°C

Fig. 10. The capacitance changes in time for the twotested textile sensors at 40 °C and RH 50%

C1 – nonwoven capacity sensor; C2 – woven capacitysensor

CONCLUSIONSDuring this work there were prepared two kinds of

sensors using electrical conductive textiles likewoven and nonvowen. The authors can see a possi-bility to use textile sensors in different IOT applica-tions. That is an interesting field to adopt textile sen-sors in the textronics applications which monitorphysiological parameters. For obtaining electricalproperties there were used printing methods and theconductive NANO INK AX JP-60n. The producedelectrodes of the humidity sensors were character-ized by surface resistance per unit area of severalohms. The sensor with nonwoven electrode changesits capacity linearly between 80% humidity for tworesearch temperature points (30°C, 40°C). The samesituation occurs with the woven printed sensor.

Capacity differences with the same dimensions arerelated to different structure of electrodes. This alsoreflects in DF – dissipation factor characteristic. Thelosses in dielectric and textile electroconductive lay-ers increase with humidity changes. Sensors are acapacity stable during the long hours of the research.Due to the step changes capacity above a certainlevel of humidity, these sensors may be used in thedetection of excessive moisture in the underclothingstructures.

ACKNOWLEDGEThis work is supported by funds in the frame of the projectLIDER IV, titled “Textronics system for protecting elderlypeople” financed by The National Centre for Research andDevelopment.


Authors:

M. FRYDRYSIAKL. TESIOROWSKI

Lodz University of Technology, Faculty of Materials Technologies and Textile Design, st. Zeromskiego 116 Lodz, Poland


M. FRYDRYSIAKe-mail: [email protected]

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INTRODUCTIONAnthropometry is a part of anthropology that dealswith the collection, calculation and interpretation ofmeasurements performed on human physical dimen-sions. These are cephalo-facial dimensions and body(somatic) dimensions.Anthropometry, as the main method of study inanthropology, has allowed the development of grad-ing scales for dimensions and body types that ordersomatic great diversity of populations. By anthro-pometry, anthropology can make a comparative anal-ysis of populations, can “build” national anthropomet-ric standards, on which it defines “normality” anddeviations. Researches on population anthropology enabledtracking the ontogenetic development of the individu-al or population on the one hand, and on the otherhand tracking the phenomenon of microevolution.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK Anthropometric survey on adult population inRomania During 2008–2010, the National R&D Institute forTextiles and Leather had conducted an anthropomet-ric survey using a mobile 3D body scanning system,VITUS Smart XXL, (figure 1) on the adult populationaged 20–65 years [1].The composition of the selection took into accountthe particularities and morphological variability of thepopulation by geographical area, the survey beingcarried out in representative regions of the country:Oltenia (Dolj, Gorj and Vâlcea counties), Muntenia(Argeş, Brăila, Bucharest-Ilfov, Dâmboviţa, Giurgiu,Ialomiţa, Prahova and Teleorman counties), Dobrogea(Constanţa and Tulcea counties), Moldova (Bacău,Galaţi, Iaşi, Neamţ, Vaslui and Vrancea counties),Bucovina (Botoşani and Suceava counties),Maramureş (Maramureş and Satu Mare counties),


Caracteristici antropometrice regionale ale populaţiei adulte din România şi aspecte privind portul popular specific

Lucrarea prezintă caracterizarea antropometrică a populaţiei adulte din diferite regiuni ale ţării: Oltenia, Muntenia,Dobrogea, Moldova, Bucovina, Maramureş, Transilvania, Banat şi Crişana. Rezultatele prelucrării statistice a datelorobţinute din ancheta antropometrică au permis caracterizarea structurii antropologice regionale în funcţie de factorii careo influenţează. S-a constatat că subiecţii de sex masculin din Crişana sunt cei mai înalţi, dar şi cei mai slabi, în timp cecei din Oltenia şi Muntenia au înălţime medie, dar sunt corpolenţi. De asemenea, subiecţii de sex feminin din Maramureşsunt cei mai înalţi şi cei mai slabi, în timp ce cei din Oltenia sunt de înălţime medie şi corpolenţi. Lucrarea prezintă, în plus față de caracterizarea antropometrică, rezultatele unui studiu documentar privindcaracteristicile etnografice ale costumului popular din diferite regiuni ale țării. Costumul tradițional românesc variază înfuncție de regiune: Banat, Transilvania, Bucovina, Moldova, Crișana, Maramureș, Dobrogea, Oltenia și Muntenia. Înfiecare dintre regiunile țării, combinația de culori impuse de tradiție este respectată cu strictețe.

Cuvinte-cheie: populaţie, mărime, antropometrie, standard, regiune, costum tradiţional românesc

Regional anthropometric characteristics of the adult population in Romania and aspectsconcerning specific folk costumes

The paper presents the anthropometric characterization of the adult population in different regions of the country:Oltenia, Muntenia, Dobrogea, Moldova, Bucovina, Maramureş, Transylvania, Banat and Crişana. The results ofstatistical processing of data from the anthropometric survey, allowed the characterization of regional anthropologicalstructure depending on the influencing factors. It was noted that male subjects from Crişana are the tallest and theskinniest ones, while those from Oltenia and Muntenia have average height but are corpulent. Also, female subjects fromMaramureș are the tallest and the skinniest ones, while those from Oltenia have average height and are corpulent. The paper presents, in addition to the anthropometric characterization, the results of a documentary study onethnographic characteristics of the popular costume from different regions of the country. The Traditional Romaniancostume varies by region: Banat, Transylvania, Bucovina, Moldova, Crişana, Maramureş, Dobrogea, Oltenia andMuntenia. In each of the country regions the combinations of colors imposed by tradition are strictly respected.

Keywords: population, size, anthropometry, standard, region, traditional Romanian costume


Regional anthropometric characteristics of the adult population in Romaniaand aspects concerning specific folk costumes

SABINA OLARU CLAUDIA NICULESCUALEXANDRA MOCENCO ADRIAN SĂLIȘTEANGEORGETA POPESCU

Transylvania (Alba, Bistriţa-Nasăud, Braşov, Cluj,Covasna, Harghita, Hunedoara, Mureş, Sălaj andSibiu counties), Banat (Timiş county) and Crişana(Bihor and Arad counties), as shown in figure 2.After 3D scanning of subjects in the anthropometricsurvey, a primary database has resulted in whicheach subject presented 150 body measurements.For each measured subject, a protocol was generat-ed in which each body measurement had been dis-played [2].The raw data obtained from the anthropometric sur-vey were statistical processed. These values repre-sent what is typical representative for the studiedvariable, giving information about the degree of dis-persion of individual values compared to typical(average) ones and allowing expansion of findingsacross communities.Overall selection of 1406 subjects (684 women and722 men) is made up of people from many geograp-hical areas as follows:

– from Oltenia: 152 subjects;– from Muntenia: 635 subjects;– from Dobrogea: 36 subjects;– from Moldavia: 189 subjects;– from Bucovina: 7 subjects;– from Maramureş: 22 subjects;– from Transylvania: 243 subjects;– from Banat: 6 subjects;– from Crişana: 116 subjects.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONSInfluence factors of anthropological structureAnthropological structure of the population and itsdimensional and body type variability are geneticallyand mesologically determined. The analysis of theanthropological structure of a population takes intoaccount the multiple factors that influence this struc-ture and that determine the differences between dif-ferent populations or within these populations.Gender factor – makes a mark on anthropologicalvariability of populations, especially for body dimen-sions of male population compared to those of thefemale population. So, the average value for the

body height is 176.87 cm in men, as in women, theaverage value of body height is 162.46 cm. Bodyheight, the “marker” most often cited in the practicalapplications of anthropology makes its componentsegments vary in the same sense in men comparedto women.Ontogenetic evolution – gender leaves its markalso on ontogenetic record of the populations, in theway that we evolve and then regress from “youth toold age”. Involution of body height – due to spinecompaction and flattening the arch of the foot – startsto rural women after the age of 30 years and to urbanwomen after the age of 40 years. In men, the sameinvolution begins in the countryside after the age of55 years, and in urban areas after the age of 50years.These ontogenetic changes which undergo bodyheight throughout life are not unique, they affect allsegments of the human body and are differentiatedby gender and origin of rural/urban population.Ontogenetic changes depending on gender and areaof residence are as “spectacular” to thoracic andabdominal parameters, which led to the finding thatmen in urban areas, sedentary in a sense, differ rad-ically from rural men, with average values of thesecircumferences significantly higher. They are signs,together with weight and body mass index, of a morepronounced tendency for obesity (as disease) tourban population with relatively sedentary lifestyleversus rural population permanently active.Geographical factor – occurs in the anthropologicalvariability of populations and is exemplified alsothrough the body height as the main “marker” defin-ing anthropological structure (figure 3).• in Oltenia: – men population

average body height 175.86 cm;– women population

average body height 161.4 cm;• in Muntenia: – men population

average body height 177.48 cm;– women population

average body height 162.19 cm;


Fig. 1. 3D Body Scanner VITUS Smart XXL Fig. 2. Geographical regions of Romania

• in Dobrogea: – men population average body height 178.25 cm;

– women population average body height 164.11 cm;

• in Moldavia: – men population average body height 175.38 cm;


• in Bucovina: – women population average body height 163.75 cm;

• in Maramureş: – men population average body height 172.67 cm;


• in Transylvania: – men population average body height 175.74 cm;


• in Banat: – men population average body height 177.9 cm;


• in Crişana: – men population average body height 178.47 cm;

– women population average body height 160.88 cm.

Analysis of statistical parameters characterizing theanthropometric measurements, calculated on theselection established by geographical area criteria ispresented in table 1 [3].Occupational factor intervenes somehow in theanthropological variability of populations. The work-place and the specific work act as selective factorsfor employees. An illustrating example is the truckdrivers, massive, overweight, with greatly increasedthoracic and abdominal circumferences. In this case,there is a body deformation due to the effort in thework carried out, the working time, the driving posi-tion of the car. In industry, there is a sharp distinctionbetween people working in the light industry andthose working in the heavy industry. In the heavyindustry, workers from the thermal overload sectorsare clearly distinguishable, especially those withlongish constitution.Constitutional factor is one of the factors that can“make order” in anthropological large diversity ofpopulations and which must be taken into account inclothing design. In the anthropometric standards SR13544:2010Clothing. Men’s Body Measurement and GarmentSizes and SR 13545: Clothing. Women’s BodyMeasurement and Garment Sizes, A-E body typeswere defined by the difference between waist andchest circumferences for men and A-F bodies typesby the difference between the bust and hips circum-ferences for women (table 2) [4, 5]. Distribution of body types by regions is presented intable 3, after calculating the difference between cir-cumferences mentioned above.

Ethnographic analysis of the popular costumeWe can observe the differences by region related toTraditional Romanian costume. Romanian folk costume


MEAN VALUES (IN CM) OF ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS CALCULATED, ON TOTAL SELECTIONAND SUBSELECTIONS (GEOGRAPHICAL AREA AND GENDER)

No. Geographical area

Anthropometric measurements

Body height Bust/Chestcircumference

Waistcircumference

Hipscircumference

Men Women Men Women Men Women1 OLTENIA 175,86 161,4 108,5 103,04 97,16 108,18

2 MUNTENIA 177,48 162,19 109,08 98,45 95,07 104,78

3 DOBROGEA 178,25 164,11 103,42 97,34 90,23 103,03

4 MOLDAVIA 175,38 162,07 105,1 99,27 91,76 104,92

5 BUCOVINA - 163,75 - 90,74 - 98,64

6 MARAMUREŞ 172,67 165,25 102,94 90,05 88,64 96,38

7 TRANSYLVANIA 175,94 164,39 105,28 92,05 90,37 99,72

8 BANAT 177,9 163,43 106 90,53 94,75 98,33

9 CRIŞANA 178,47 160,88 99,4 99,84 85,01 106,97

10 TOTAL SELECTION 176,87 162,46 107.8 97,72 94,02 104,19

Table 1

Fig. 3. Body height distribution Body size distribution bygeographical area

finds its roots in the costume of our Thracians, Getsand Dacians ancestors and resembles with that ofthe people from the Balkan Peninsula, except ofcourse in the differences that consist of decorativedetails and colors [6, 7].From the structural and ornamental point of view, thefolk costume created in the mountain and plain areasof Oltenia belongs to the category of Romanian folkcostumes with two “catrinte” and finely pleated valnic.A specificity for Oltenia are the bright cheerful colorsof the embroideries and “alesaturi”, the splendor andsumptuousness of the decorative compositions madewith precious materials. Costumes of remarkable artistic value, the traditionalcostume of Muntenia (figure 4), regardless of theethnographic area, contributed significantly to theaffirmation of folk costume as significant symbol aspeasant creation. The blouse, skirt and veil of thesecostumes are each of them an example of techno-logical performance and artistic craftsmanship. The costume from Dobrogea presents the characterof hills and plains areas, on the left shore of theDanube. A characteristic for this region is that along-side with Romanian population other national minori-

ties live, such as: Lipovans, Bulgarians, Turks,Macedonians, Tatars, so the costume from Dobrogeakeeps the specific aspects of ethnic plurality.The traditional costume from Moldavia is character-ized by simplicity and sobriety, the color palette isoften reduced to three colors: black, red and white,later associating other colors.In Bucovina, the female costume consists of a beau-tifully colored shirt sewn with beads, a skirt withembroidered gold, a bund and for walking “opinci”and wool socks (figure 4). Men costume mainly con-sists of a long shirt, tied in the middle with a belt or“barnet”, wool “iţari”, lamb hat on his head and “opinci”.The folk costume of the old country of Maramureş(figure 5) preserves the vigor of some ancient cloth-ing pieces: women’s “zadii” (rectangular woolenskirts) with broad stripes in red with black or yellow


Fig. 4. Traditional Romanian costumes from Muntenia, Bucovina and Banat

BODY TYPES CALCULATED ON TOTAL SELECTIONAND SUBSELECTIONS

(GEOGRAPHICAL AREA AND GENDER)

No. Geographicalarea

Body typeMen Women

1 OLTENIA –11,33 C 5,14 C

2 MUNTENIA –14,01 B and C 6,33 C and D

3 DOBROGEA –13,18 C 5,69 C

4 MOLDAVIA –13,34 C 5,64 C

5 BUCOVINA - - 7,9 D

6 MARAMUREŞ –14,3 B and C 6,3 C and D

7 TRANSYLVANIA –14,9 C 7,6 D

8 BANAT –11,25 C 7,8 D

9 CRIŞANA –14,38 B and C 7,13 D

10 TOTAL SELECTION –13,77 C 6,4 C and D

BODY TYPE DEFINED INTO APPLICABLEANTHROPOMETRIC STANDARDS

Body typeMen Women

Pt-Pb Pş-PbA – 20 – 4B – 16 0C – 12 4D – 8 8E – 4 12F - 16

Table 2 Table 3

with blue and “guba” (a long white coat, woven withlong woolen treads introduced into the filling to obtainhemstitch effect), worn by both men and women. The folk costume of Transylvania is characterizedby a unitary morphological structure of the basicclothing pieces [6, 7]. The costumes from Banat (figure 4) are distinguishedfrom other regions by excessive embroidery onblouses, where the motifs are very flat and compact.In Crişana (figure 5), the use of new materials isremarkable, decorative embroidery amplification anddisplay of expensive jewels – necklaces of gold andsilver coins.

CONCLUSIONSAnalyzing the parameters presented in the paper, thefollowing conclusions were revealed:• different average values recorded in some anthro-

pometric measurements between analyzed geo-graphical areas may result from different volumesof selections;

• it is remarkable for the selection of male subjects inCrişana, that they have the average for bodyheight (178.47 cm), higher by 1.6 cm compared tothe average for the total selection (176.87 cm);

• the selection of male subjects in Maramureş hasthe lowest average for body height (172.67 cm),less than 4.2 cm from the average for the totalselection (176,87 cm);

• male subjects in Muntenia and Transylvania clos-est to the average value of the total selection forbody height because of the number of subjects inthe sample;

• chest circumference has the highest value for malesubjects in Muntenia (Pb 109.08 cm) greater than

1.3 cm from the average for the total selection(Pb 107,8 cm);

• waist circumference has the highest value for malesubjects in Oltenia (Pt 97.16 cm), 3 cm higher thanthe average on overall selection (Pt 94 cm);

• chest and waist circumferences recorded the low-est values for male subjects in Crișana (Pb 99.4cm and Pt 85.01 cm), 8–9 cm below the average inthe total selection (Pb 107.8 cm and Pt 94.02 cm);

• male subjects in Muntenia and Banat is closest tothe average value for the total selection for chestand waist circumferences;

• in female subjects, the values recorded for bodyheight are opposite to those of the male subjects:female subjects in Maramureş have the averagefor body height (165.25 cm) higher than 2.79 cmcompared with average for overall selection(162.46 cm), and those from Crişana recorded thelowest average for body height (160.88 cm), lessthan 1.58 cm compared to the average for the totalselection (162.46 cm);

• female subjects from Muntenia, Moldavia andBanat are closest to the average value for the totalselection for body height;

• bust and hip circumferences recorded the highestvalues for female subjects in Oltenia (Pb 103.04cm and Ps 108.18 cm), 4–5 cm higher compared tothe average for total selection (Pb 97.72 cm andPs 104.19 cm);

• bust and hip circumferences recorded the lowestvalues for female subjects in Maramureş (Pb 90.05cm and Ps 96.38 cm), 7–8 cm below the averagefor the total selection (Pb 97.72 cm and Ps 104.19cm);


Fig. 5. Traditional Romanian costumes from Crişana and Maramureş

• female subjects from Muntenia, Dobrogea andMoldavia are closest to the mean value selectionfor the bust and hips circumferences;

• it was noted that male subjects from Crişana arethe tallest and the skinniest ones, while those fromOltenia and Muntenia have average height but arecorpulent;

• also, female subjects from Maramureş are thetallest and the skinniest ones, while those fromOltenia have average height and are corpulent;

• subjects of both sexes from Muntenia recorded val-ues for anthropometric measurements very closeto the average for total selection; this is due to thelarge amount of selection in this area;

• analyzing the difference between waist and chestcircumferences (difference that defines the bodytype of a subject), it was found that the malesubjects from Muntenia, Maramureş and Crişanabelong to groups B and C (proportioned bodies andcorpulent but proportioned bodies) and the sub-jects of the overall selection and of the selectionsby other geographical areas belong to group C;this point is supported when we consider that men

conformation changes with an increase in waist cir-cumference, so in anthropometric size that differ-entiates bodies (along with chest circumference);

• analyzing the difference between hip and bust cir-cumferences (difference that defines the body typeof a subject), it was found that the female subjectsfrom Oltenia, Dobrogea and Moldavia belong togroup C (corpulent but proportioned bodies), thosefrom Bucovina, Transylvania, Banat and Crişanabelong to the group D (corpulent and less propor-tionate bodies) and the subjects of the overallselection and the selection by other geographicareas belong to groups C and D.

The Romanian traditional costume has the samegeneral features as similarity across the country, withof course differences in detail, with changes ofshape, cut or only for the use of haircut and orna-ments. The Traditional Romanian costume varies byregion: Banat, Transylvania, Bucovina, Moldova,Crişana, Maramureş, Dobrogea, Oltenia andMuntenia. The clothing pieces and embroidery pat-terns have a certain meaning that differs from oneregion to another.


Authors:

SABINA OLARUCLAUDIA NICULESCUADRIAN SĂLIȘTEAN

ALEXANDRA MOCENCOGEORGETA POPESCU

National R&D Institute for Textiles and Leather, Bucharest Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu street, no. 16, sector 3, postal code 030508,

Bucharest, ROMANIA

e-mail: [email protected]


CLAUDIA NICULESCUe-mail: claudia.niculescu @certex.ro

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Research contract Dezvoltarea pieţei interne de confecţii prin utilizarea metodei de scanare 3D în identificarea car-acteristicilor antropometrice specifice populaţiei din România, Sectorial Programme, 2007–2009, coordinatorINCDTP-Bucharest

[2] Claudia Niculescu, Adrian Salistean, Sabina Olaru, Emilia Filipescu, Manuela Avadanei, Elena Danila 3D BodyScanner Anthropometric Investigation of the Romanian Population and Anthropometric Data Assessment, In:Annals of the University of Oradea – fascicle of textiles, leatherwork, volume XI, 2010, no. 1, ISSN-L = 1843 – 813X,pp. 108–114

[3] Filipescu E. Indicatori antropomorfologici în construcţia îmbrăcămintei pentru bărbaţi, In: Performantica Publishing,Iaşi, 2003, ISBN 973-7994-27-2

[4] SR 13545:2010 – Clothing. Women’s Body Measurement and Garment Sizes[5] SR 13545:2010 – Clothing. Men’s Body Measurement and Garment Sizes [6] Isfanoni, D., Popoiu, P. Patrimony Romanian costume from the collections of „Dimitrie Gusti” National Village

Museum, Ed. Alcor Edimpex, Bucharest, 2007[7] Research contract Portul popular – sursa inspirationala pentru designul de moda, In: NUCLEU-Program, Project:

10N/2009, coordinator INCDTP-Bucharest

INTRODUCTIONNowadays clothes we wear or the way we dress havegained new functions besides the classical ones –social, cultural (individual, occupational, sexual differ-entiation, and social status indicator) and protection.We are living in a world where vision is the dominantsense, where the creation of emotions attached toshopping and product use is the key for marketingsuccess and where additional functions of clothing,such as health protection through the type of materi-al and dye used or environment protection guaran-teed by an ecological label (eco-label) often outgrowthe traditional ones. The benefits sought by apparelconsumers range from fashion, body appearanceand impression, brand value, personal identity, price,comfort benefits to social fairness, contribution tonature protection etc. [1].Globalization has created a continuously changingbusiness environment in terms of customers andmarkets requirements [2]. The US, Japans orEuropean textile and clothing import prices have fall-en continuously since 1996 and, in an oversuppliedand liberalized market, this trend is likely to continue,potentially bringing about a deterioration of the posi-tion of the domestic apparel companies, which arefiercely competed by those from outside with cheap-er labor force [3]. New forms of market appear, suchas the online one, which increases rapidly. For

instance, at Romania level, it rose to approximately50 million euro, representing 2.5–3% of the entireRomanian apparel market [4]. Each of us, at onepoint in the day, week, month or year becomes con-sumer of clothes and clothing provides a unique con-sumption experience for consumers [5]. Consequently,the need to know more about clothing consumerbehavior is growing, stimulated by the increase inclothes consumption and competition. Labeling is aform of communication between two parties, which,to function correctly, requires knowledge from bothsides, must be comprehensible, recognizable, believ-able and, sometimes, needs to be checked andapproved by an independent party [6]. Label has thefunctions to inform, educate, influence, protect andhelp consumers in their decision process. It is usual-ly available to consumers at the time of information,evaluation and decision, making the label readingbehavior relevant for marketers. While food label hasreceived more attention, information about clothinglabel reading behavior is scarce, especially aboutRomanian consumers. Within the academic litera-ture, there is limited research about the readingbehavior or the perceptions about clothing label. Atinternational level, only the reading behavior relatedto care, size and ecological or ethical label aspectshave been investigated.



Eticheta de pe îmbrăcăminte și eticheta ecologică: o oportunitate pierdutăsau un instrument puternic pe piață?

Acest studiu a analizat comportamentul şi opiniile consumatorilor privind eticheta de pe îmbrăcăminte. Ca răspuns lapreocupările de degradare a naturii, au fost analizate percepțiile cu privire la eticheta ecologică și factorii care împiedicăachiziționarea de îmbrăcăminte cu etichetă ecologică. Informațiile care sunt cel mai frecvent citite pe eticheta de peîmbrăcăminte și cele mai importante sunt mărimea, compoziţia fibroasă şi prețul. Aproape jumătate dintre consumatoricred că îmbrăcămintea cu etichetă ecologică are un impact mai redus asupra mediului și că prin achiziționarea acesteiacontribuie la protejarea mediului. Lucrarea propune ca piața pentru produse ecologice să fie exploatată mai mult încadrul grupurilor de consumatori cu valori pro-mediu.

Cuvinte-cheie: îmbrăcăminte, consumator, ecologic, etichetă, comportament de citire a etichetei de către consumator

Clothing label and ecological label: a missed opportunity or a powerful tool in the marketplace?

This study examined consumers’ behavior and beliefs related to clothing label. In response to nature degradationconcerns, perceptions about the ecological label and the factors that hinder the acquisition of ecological label clothingwere investigated. The most frequently read information on the clothing label and the most important ones are size, fibrecomposition and price. Almost half of consumers believe that eco-labeled clothing has a lower negative impact on theenvironment and that by purchasing it they contribute to environment protection. The paper suggests that the market forgreener products could be exploited more within consumer groups that have pro-environmental values.

Keywords: clothing, consumer, ecological, label, consumer label reading behavior

Clothing label and ecological label: a missed opportunityor a powerful tool in the marketplace?

DACINIA CRINA PETRESCU ILDIKO IOANFLORINA BRAN CARMEN VALENTINA RĂDULESCU

Addressing this critical gap, the present study makesan inquiry about label reading behavior and aims tofind out: if the Romanian consumers read the infor-mation on the label of clothing, what type of informa-tion they read, which are their beliefs about the labeland which are their perceptions regarding ecologicallabel for textiles. The inclusion of the ecological labelin the discussion is motivated by the increasing needto face sustainability challenges and by the contribu-tion that eco-clothing can have both to environmentprotection and to the development of a market seg-ment [7, 8, 9, 10]. Eco-labelling schemes currentlyserve primarily as a marketing tool, and products witheco-labels tend to target niche markets.The novelty of the research is given by the inquiry inthe clothing label reading behavior and the focus onthe ecological label, which were not studied withinthe Romanian market context and also not in the con-text of any other country, to the best knowledge of theauthors. The study made several important contributions toconsumer behavior research in the apparel field byproviding insights into clothing label reading process(actions and beliefs), highlighting how the ecologicallabel is perceived and revealing marketing opportuni-ties. Fierce competition and dazing increase of infor-mation content raise the importance of label as acommunication and information instrument. Fallingprices, decrease in quality, an overwhelming numberof designs delivered on the market at fast speed, pre-mature disposal and psychological obsolescencegenerate overconsumption, which, together with pol-lution and resource consumption associated to rawmaterial production and processing, long transporta-tion routes etc. exhaust surviving forces of the natu-ral environment and impose urgent revision [11]. Onetool that supports the shift to sustainable productionand consumption patterns is the ecological label.Eco-labels aim at helping consumers identify prod-ucts and services that have a comparatively low envi-ronmental impact throughout their life cycles. In thecase of clothing, at EU level, the ecological labelguarantees: a limited use of substances harmful tothe environment, limited substances harmful tohealth, reduced water and air pollution, textile shrinkresistance during washing and drying and color resis-tance [12].

METHODThe purpose of this study was to achieve an under-standing of Romanian clothing label reading behaviorin a dynamic and extremely tender market. BecauseRomanian consumer profile is part of a range ofresearch hardly explored, the research was interpre-tive in nature, using an exploratory descriptive study.Results are based on data obtained through a survey,non-probabilistic, that used a convenience sample of371 persons, young, from Romanian urban areas,with access to a vast choice of clothing, throughshops (in-store and online) and malls.

Two focus group sessions of twelve and ten partici-pants were develop with the purpose of understand-ing which are (a) the types of information on the labeland (b) the features associated with the label whichare the most relevant for the clothing label readingbehavior. A special focus was maintained on the eco-logical label. The resulting information was used inthe design of a questionnaire with closed and open-ended, which was implemented on-line and throughface to face interviews. The questionnaire was struc-tured in two sections: (I) actions and (II) beliefs relat-ed to the label reading behavior (table 1).Data analysis was made using the software Exceland SPSS version 21. For comparison of differencesregarding an ordinal or continuous variable, betweentwo groups, the Mann-Whitney U test was used. Therelationship between two ordinal or continuous vari-ables was investigated using Spearman’s RankOrder Correlation. The level of statistical significancewas set at p < 0.05.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONSActions and beliefs related to the clothing labelReading frequency of label information will give indi-cation of the usefulness of the information printed onthe label for the consumers. In some cases the read-ing frequency may not reflect the importanceassigned to that information, and this is why a sepa-rate question about the importance of each type ofinformation of the label was also asked. An averagescore for the reading frequency and an averagescore for the importance of each piece of informationwere calculated like this: (4 X no of the highest eval-uation +… + 0 X no of the lowest evaluation) / total noof answers. These scores were compared to themaximum level, resulting percentages that show howmuch of the maximum possible score was achievedby each piece of information (figure1). The most fre-quently read information on the clothing label aresize, price, promotions and they are also rated as themost important ones in the purchasing decision. Thewinning of the best position in reading and impor-tance by the size should draw producers’ and retail-ers’ attention on the way the size is displayed and onthe opportunities gained by placing a specific pieceof information next to it. The type of size systembecomes important in this context and a widely andeasy to understand known one should be used or atleast added to a less common one, in order to avoidconfusion [13, 14, 6]. The results also picture a goodsituation from the label reading behavior point ofview: 72% of consumers read some information onthe clothing label in at least half of the cases they buyclothing.The ecological information gathered the lowest read-ing frequency and importance (figure 1), probablydue to the rare presence on the market of the eco-logical clothing products and of the news or informa-tion about it. If this assumption is true, the readingfrequency obtained has a good level. However, wemust bear in mind that these figures are based on


subjective evaluations, which means they describedthe perceived reality and not necessarily the objec-tive one. A similar behavior, with price and personalcriteria overpassing ecological one, was observed inUK consumers, too [15]. The differences according to gender regarding thereading frequency of and the importance assign tovarious pieces of information on the label were test-ed. It was found that there is a statistically significant

difference between men and women, with women:having higher reading frequencies of price, size andpromotions and assigning higher importance to theprice, size, composition, ecological criteria and pro-motions (table 2). It was also observed that womenhave a higher agreement level about the ideas thatthe Eco label of textiles indicates a low negative envi-ronmental impact of the product and that the buyer


VARIABLES ANALYZED IN THE STUDY

Variables Categories

(I) Actions

Reading frequency of various types ofinformation on clothing label, based onself-reported evaluations

(Close ended question, 5 points Likert scale) price, size, composition (type of materials and fibers),information on washing, drying, ironing etc., brand and/orproducer, country of origin, ecological information – theexistence of the ecological label (e.g.: Eco label), promotions.

(II) Beliefs

Importance of various types ofinformation on clothing label, based onself-reported evaluations

(Close ended question, 5 points Likert scale)price, size, composition (type of materials and fibers),information on washing, drying, ironing etc., brand and/orproducer, country of origin, ecological information – theexistence of the ecological label (e.g.: Eco label), promotions.

Beliefs about label characteristics thatcould indicate superior quality

(Agreement level on a 5 points Likert scale) “A larger numberof interior labels indicates superior quality of the product”; “Agreater number of exterior labels indicates higher quality of theproduct”; “A beautiful design of the exterior labels indicateshigher quality of the product”; “As the amount of informationon the exterior labels is higher, the product quality is higher”;“As the amount of information on the interior labels is higher,the product quality is higher”; “Clothing with textile interiorlabels are of better quality than clothing with plastic interiorlabels”; “When I trust in the brand, I do not read the label”

Beliefs about product characteristicsthat could indicate superior quality andcould be used as the rules of thumb toasses product quality instead of readingdetailed information on the label

“As the price is higher, the quality is better”; “As the brand ismore famous, the product quality is better”.

Beliefs about the ecological labelcharacteristics

“Ecological label gives me the certainty that the product hasa reduced negative impact on the natural environment”;“By purchasing eco-labeled clothing, I have a significantcontribution to environmental protection”.

Demographic variable: Gender (M, F)

Table 1

Fig. 1. (a) Percentage of average reading frequency score in maximum level and (b) percentage of averageimportance score in maximum level for each piece of information on the clothing label

a b

has a positive contribution to environment protectionby purchasing textiles with eco label (table 2). In a highly competitive environment, each piece ofinformation can be a motivating with the appropriateinterest of consumers. For instance, the visible dis-play of the country of origin (through “Made inRomania” tags) will help inland producers to captureconsumers’ attention and gain more market share.Gender differences observed may suggest labeldesign adjustment to fit gender profile. While price,size and promotions are more frequently read by andmore important to women, other aspects, such ascountry of origin are not influenced by gender. Inother countries, males were more interested in coun-try of origin and in laundering indications [16].The reading frequency of one piece of informationand the importance attached to it are strongly corre-lated to each other for all cases: the higher is theimportance, the higher is the reading frequency ofthat specific information (table 3). The existence of certain beliefs may influence thereading frequency of clothing labels. The highestagreement level was collected by the ideas that theecological label is an indicator of the fact that theclothing item has a reduced negative impact on theenvironment and by the idea that the consumer hasa significant contribution to environment protection bythe purchase of clothing with ecological label, bothindicating an acceptable level of trust in the ecologi-cal label for a market where eco clothing is not very

common, but a low one if the market was more abun-dant in this category. The next strongest belief (butvery close to the neutral level) is that textile interiorlabels are an indicator of higher quality of the prod-uct. On average, consumers tested do not agree withthe ideas that a higher number of exterior label, anicer design of these or a bigger quantity of informa-tion on them are an indicator of superior quality of theclothing product, nor that a high price is an indicatorof a better quality (figure 2) where:a) A larger number of interior labels indicates superi-

or quality of the product;b) A greater number of exterior labels indicates high-

er quality of the product; c) A beautiful design of the exterior labels indicates

higher quality of the product; d) As the amount of information on the exterior

labels is higher, the product quality is higher; e) As the amount of information on the interior labels

is higher, the product quality is higher; f) Clothing with textile interior labels are of better

quality than clothing with plastic interior labels; g) When I trust in the brand, I do not read the label; h) As the price is higher, the quality is better; i) As the brand is more famous, the product quality

is better; j) Ecological label gives me the certainty that the

product has a reduced negative impact on the nat-ural environment;


MAN WHITNEY U TEST RESULTS FOR SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMENREGARDING READING FREQUENCIES AND IMPORTANCE OF VARIOUS PIECES OF INFORMATION

ON CLOTHING LABEL

Variable p valueHigher value

Men Women

reading frequency of:price p=0.000 Xsize p=0.001 Xpromotions p=0.000 X

importance levelassigned to:

price p=0.005 Xsize p=0.003 Xcomposition p=0.021 Xecological criteria p=0.028 Xpromotions p=0.000 X

agreement levelabout the idea that:

the eco label of textiles indicates a low negativeenvironmental impact of the product p=0.008 X

the buyer has a positive contribution to environmentprotection by purchasing textiles with eco label p=0.019 X

Table 2

SPEARMAN’S RHO CORRELATION COEFFICIENT FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN READINGFREQUENCY AND IMPORTANCE OF VARIOUS PIECES OF INFORMATION ON CLOTHING LABEL

Price Size Composition Info washingetc.

Brand/Producer

Countryof origin Eco criteria Promotions

r .496 .508 .642 .657 .645 .597 .636 .739

Table 3


Fig. 2 (a) Percentage of consumers having a specific agreement degree with clothing label statements and(b) percentage of average score of agreement of statements compared to the maximum level possible

(based on scores from 0 – total disagreement to 4 – total agreement)

a bLegend: I = strong agreement and mostly agreement; II = neither agreement, nor disagreement; III = mostly disagreementand strong disagreement

SPEARMAN’S RHO CORRELATION COEFFICIENT FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STRENGTHOF BELIEF AND THE AVERAGE READING FREQUENCY OF CLOTHING LABEL

Belief r

A larger number of interior labels indicates superior quality of the product .222A greater number of exterior labels indicates higher quality of the product .226A beautiful design of the exterior labels indicates higher quality of the product .208As the amount of information on the exterior labels is higher, the product quality is higher .247As the amount of information on the interior labels is higher, the product quality is higher .141Clothing with textile interior labels are of better quality than clothing with plastic interior labels .112When I trust in the brand, I do not read the label .064As the price is higher, the quality is better .157As the brand is more famous, the product quality is better .149

Ecological label gives me the certainty that the product has a reduced negative impact on the naturalenvironment .068

By purchasing eco-labeled clothing, I have a significant contribution to environmental protection .166

Table 4

SPEARMAN’S RHO CORRELATION COEFFICIENT FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STRENGTHOF BELIEF THAT THE CLOTHING WITH ECO LABEL HAS A LOW NEGATIVE IMPACT

ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE STRENGTH OF BELIEF THAT A CONSUMER HAS A SIGNIFICANTCONTRIBUTION TO ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION BY BUYING CLOTHING WITH ECO LABEL

EcoLabel_LowNegative EcoLabel_EnvProtContrib

Spearman's rho

EcoLabel_LowNegative

Correlation Coefficient 1.000 .513**

Sig. (2-tailed) . .000

N 371 371

EcoLabel_EnvProtContrib

CorrelationCoefficient .513** 1.000

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 371 371

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Table 5

k) By purchasing eco-labeled clothing, I have a sig-nificant contribution to environmental protection

The correlation between eleven beliefs and the aver-age reading frequency of clothing label (including allpieces of information on the label) was tested. In ninecases, the stronger is the belief in consumers’ mind,the higher is the average reading frequency of cloth-ing label, but the power of the relationship is weak(table 4).A strong positive correlation was found between thebelief that the clothing with eco label has a low neg-ative impact on the environment and the belief that aconsumer has a significant contribution to environ-ment protection by buying clothing with eco label(table 5). Thus, consumers demonstrate a correctunderstanding and acceptance of the functions of theecological label, possibly because during the lastyears the ecological market, especially the food one,has been increasing in Romania and terms such asbio, organic, eco are widely spread [17]. This findingis important in the current context and should drawproducers’ attention, because more and more com-panies recognize the role of consumption sustainabil-ity as an integral component of their business strate-gy and consumers increasingly reward businessesthat treat the environment fairly [18]. Even if the holdof a belief or knowledge does not guarantee that thebehavior will follow it, taking advantage of the exis-tence of this knowledge in combination with othermeasures, such as visible display of eco logos can leadto very good results. Findings suggest that apparelcompanies may benefit from using hang tags featur-ing explicit messages and logos to convey their ecoor social responsible business practices [19] and thatstandardized eco-label to facilitate identification ofeco-friendly alternatives, concise, clear and factualmessage content, and interpersonal communication

may stimulate the pro-environmental apparel behav-ior [20].

CONCLUSIONSConsumers have a practical orientation in their labelreading behavior, as price, promotions and size arethe most often read and have the highest importancefor studied population. Gender influences label read-ing behavior, because women read the clothing labelmore often than men and allocate it higher impor-tance. Ecological information has a good reading frequencyand importance, for a market with low presence ofeco clothing, but among other pieces of informationon the label it is currently positioned at the lowest endof consumers’ ratings. The ecological label is posi-tively appreciated by consumers: (1) they believe that the ecological label is an indica-

tor of a reduced negative impact on the environ-ment of the clothing products that has it and

(2) they consider that they have a significant contri-bution to environment protection by purchasingclothing with ecological label. The environmentalconsciousness in relation to clothing purchaseand use should be, therefore, enhanced, as thereis a good basis to build on – the favorable per-ception of eco-label. Consumers are not exposedenough to green product marketing communica-tion in clothing field, revealing the need of agreater use of marketing and brands to promoteand sell products that are environmentally friendlyand the opportunity of exploiting more the marketfor greener products, especially within consumergroups that have pro-environmental values.

AcknowledgementThe authors are grateful to the online shop horifashion.rofor the feedback and support received.


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Authors:

Conf. univ. dr. DACINIA CRINA PETRESCU1

Prof. univ. dr. FLORINA BRAN2

Conf. univ. dr. ILDIKO IOAN2

Conf. univ. dr. CARMEN VALENTINA RĂDULESCU2

1 Faculty of Business, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania2 Faculty of Agri-Food and Environmental Economics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies

Bucharest, Romania


DACINIA CRINA PETRESCUemail: [email protected]

CONTEXTRomanian industry has faced a series of significantchanges due to a continuous fluctuation of businessenvironment’s factors. According to Eurostat, theturnover registered in the European Union by enter-prises active in all business sectors has improved by3.8 billion euro in 2014 compared to the level record-ed previously. Therefore, the European businessmarket has recorded overall a positive trend in termsof performance. In this regard, the attractiveness ofdifferent industrial sectors has significantly dimin-ished, as companies did not manage to properly cor-relate the information and knowledge gathered basedon product’s requirements engineering in order tomaintain competitive advantage and/or exploit newbusiness opportunities. In this context, textile industry

is a representative industry, as Romania has anenriched history regarding textile manufacturing. Theshare of newly enterprises entering this particularindustry is on a descending trend, while the deathrate of businesses has increased, i.e. the total num-ber of enterprises recorded in the industrial market is:172.2755 companies – 2014, 174.254 companies2013, 180.200 companies – 2012, emphasizing theutter need for processes’ continuous improvement.(Eurostat, 2014).With all the last restructuring undergone by industrysector due to lack of coherence, continuity, pre-dictability and good fiscal and monetary regulatorytrading, however textile industry currently has anindustrial production of 8547.1 million, exports of5.574 7 million, a total of 341 800 employees and is

The model of continuous improvement of branding process – the keytowards an efficient communication within Romanian textile industry

OCTAVIAN ION NEGOITA OLIVIA DOINA NEGOITAALEXANDRA ANCA PURCAREA CARMEN GHITULEASA


Modelul de îmbunătăţire continuă a procesului de branding – cheia spre o comunicare eficientă în industriatextilă din Romania

Într-o economie oscilantă, într-un mediu economic aflat într-o continuă transformare, rezultatul efortului de marketing alunei organizaţii poate fi dezastruos fără o analiză atentă a mediului de afaceri. Într-un articol anterior, autorii au propusabordarea brandingului ca proces organizaţional şi analizarea interacţiunii acestui proces cu toate celelalte proceseorganizaţionale în vederea obţinerii unei poziţii clare la un moment dat. Datorită unui declin puternic al industrieiromâneşti, în special în industria textilă, se impune găsirea unei soluţii de redresare cât mai rapidă. Revenirea în elitamondială a firmelor din industria textilă, în condiţiile unei concurenţe acerbe, se poate face prin redefinirea branduluifirmei, prin îmbunătăţirea procesului de construire a acestuia.Plecând de la acest fapt, autorii propun în lucrare un model de îmbunătăţire continuă a procesului de branding într-oorganizaţie industrială. Având la bază interacţiunea cu celelalte procese organizaţionale, modelul evidenţiază paşiinecesari în dezvoltarea unui astfel de proces de îmbunătăţire şi prezintă punctual modalităţi de soluţionare a situaţiilorîntâlnite. Modelul astfel propus a fost validat pe un studiu de caz şi poate constitui un ghid pentru managerii organizaţiilordin industria textilă, în încercarea acestora de a crea sau de a menţine avantajul competitiv al organizaţiei pe care oconduc.

Cuvinte-cheie: industria textilă, proces de branding, îmbunătățire continuă

The model of continuous improvement of branding process – the key towards an efficient communicationwithin Romanian textile industry

In a fluctuating economy in an economic environment under constant transformation, the result of an organization'smarketing effort can be disastrous without careful consideration of business environment. In a previous article theauthors have proposed branding approach as organizational process and an analysis of the interaction of this processwith all other organizational processes in order to obtain a clear positioning of its current situation. Due to a sharp declinein the Romanian industry, in particular in the textile industry, it is necessary to reach a swift redress. In this fiercecompetition, returning to the world elite companies for textile industry can be done by redefining the company's brandand through a process of brand continuous improvement. Given this fact, the authors propose in the paper a model ofcontinuous improvement of the branding process in an industrial organization. Based on the interaction with otherorganizational processes, the model shows the steps in developing such a process improvement and shows how tosolve punctual situations encountered. The proposed model has been validated on a case study and presents a guidefor managers of industrial organizations in their attempt to create or maintain competitive advantage of the organizationthey lead.

Keywords: textile industry, branding process, continuous improvement


the branch that does not produce trade deficit with1990 until now, positive trade balance (imports of4.736 million euros). (Romanian National Institute ofStatistics).We still have a contribution to Romania's industrialproduction and a GDP which is also significant. Thisallows us to build a public-private partnership byestablishing a branch brand, to ensure the sustain-ability of industrial production and design, usingbrands already established on the European andinternational level. Worldwide Romania is among thelargest exporters of clothing in the world along withChina, Turkey, India, Bangladesh, Morocco, andTunisia. The fact that Romania has moved from 7th to3rd place on the EU market, is another argument fordeveloping a brand strategy that will complement theexport strategy with the main objective to reconsiderits position on the global market.A study conducted in 2012 analysed the value ofRomanian brands pinpoints that there are no fullysuccessful national brands developed and adminis-trated by Romanian management. The characteris-tics of Romanian business market are highly differentfrom the countries with a solid economic develop-ment, i.e. the concepts of “branding”, “market posi-tioning” and “business performance” are redundantas long as the single driver towards business growthis the existence of the product itself. Moreover, thebranding process does not retrieve immediateresults, as the outcomes of an adequate strategy, i.e.a branding program, which enables the enterprises’long-term stability and performance, can be identifiedand quantified only throughout time. Therefore, only few Romanian companies havedeveloped highly qualitative branding programs up tothis moment, and there are fewer Romanian brandswhich managed to gain the consumer’s awarenessfor this particular reason rather than the nationalismcriteria. The lack of knowledge regarding brandingmanagement, i.e. specialised human resource short-age, as well as the current economic, legal and socialframework are improper for brand development. To gain a better position on the national and interna-tional market, the Romanian textile industry, mustbuild strong brands or improve the existing brands.The Romanian textile industry comprises highly com-petitive brands due to their qualitative products.However, in order to attain success through branding,it is mandatory not only to gain knowledge regardingthe in-depth of the aforementioned concept, but alsoto thoroughly understand it based on long-term expe-rience, and to disseminate branding know-how,hence to be afterwards implemented and used on ascale-basis in the Romanian economy context. Given these unfavourable conditions, there areRomanian brands which have achieved competitiveadvantage not only on the local market, but also glob-ally. In this regard, there are Romanian brands whichare highly attractive for foreign consumers, such as: • ID Sarieri – Romanian lingerie brand highly appre-

ciated on the Italian market.

• Braincoff – with a tradition of nearly 60 years inthe industry of garments is one of the mostrenowned lights garments companies in Romania.In the last years the Braincoff’s managementunderstand that addressing new markets and con-tinuous improvement of organizational processcan mean the path to success. Despite this, thecommunication process and the branding processseem to need more and more attention.

• Nissa, TinaR – Romanian fashion brands well-known on Romanian market but with a poorlydefined and poorly communicated brand strategy.

ID Sarieri and Braincoff are only two examples ofsuccessful companies, which have emerged on thelocal market years ago and are recognised nowa-days, both locally and globally as well establishedbrands. There are other companies in this industrywell-known for qualitative products but without a well-defined brand. In order to compete successfully withforeign brands internationally, it is necessary for man-agers to turn their attention to improving the brandingprocess. Their commonalities include quality and, insome cases, uniqueness, as well as an effectivebrand strategy. The proposed model for continuousimprovement of the branding process helps the com-panies in the textile industry in a bid to achieve andmaintain long-term competitive advantage. Such anapproach leads to more efficient marketing effortsand an appropriate communication strategy goals.

BRAND EQUITY A brand is an asset. The brand impact can be noticedon three different levels: consumer market, productmarket and financial market. On each of these threeaforesaid markets, the brand generates an addedvalue. Hence, the sum of these three added valuesgenerates the “brand equity”. This term was definedat the end of 1980’s, and its conceptual developmenthas resulted in recognising the brand’s importance inthe organization’s marketing strategy. The complexi-ty of the concept has led to a general confusionamong scholars regarding how all its facets shouldbe captured within one definition. David Aakerdefines “brand equity” as a concept which includesthe brand’s assets and liabilities, as well as its nameand symbol which are then further detracted from thetotal value generated by the good or service, either tothe organization or to the consumers [1]. Therefore,according to Aaker brand equity is, in fact, the intan-gible component of both the brand and consumers’perception [1]. Moreover, the researcher has developed a conceptu-al model of brand equity in order to depict the con-cept’s theoretical description, which comprises fivedimensions (figure 1): loyalty towards the brand,degree of brand awareness, the perception of brandquality, brand’s associations, and other brand assets[1].Marketing Science Institute (MSI) defines brand equi-ty as “the entire set of associations and behaviour ofthe elements connected to the brand, i.e. clients,



distribution channels and industrial enterprise, henceallowing for sales and/or profit enhancement, whichotherwise would not have been able to be attained,i.e. the brand strengthens the enterprise on the mar-ket, facilitates its sustainable development andenhances the organization’s competitive advantage. The MSI definition emphasizes the clear distinctionbetween the added value provided by the brand andthe benefits generated by the product itself on all thelayers of interaction, i.e. consumer, market, financial.Raj Srivastava, a researcher from University ofTexas, describes brand equity as the sum of brand’svalue and its strengths [2]. The brand’s value is defined as the generated finan-cial income based on the manager’s ability to proper-ly exploit the brand’s strengths, alongside with under-taking effective tactic and strategic activities for profitimprovement and risk detraction.Although this particular definition comprises two newconcepts, its applicability is connected with thesame elements identified by previous researchers.However, the main difference lies in the constraints ofbrand equity, and such Sivastava highlights theimportance of risk analysis against the brand’s finan-cial performance, quantified by net and/or gross prof-it [2]. In this regard, the scientific opinions towardsthis particular concept have varied over time andthere are still scholars who define “brand equity”excluding the elements which generate the brand’sadded value. Therefore, brand equity is directly con-nected to the brand’s added value generated by mar-keting services, as the added value depends on themarketing strategy. Keller asserts that designing a brand implies to cre-ate that element on which the enterprise can gaincompetitive advantage by notably differentiating onthe market against other products. The financialadded value is in fact the cumulative result of mar-keting strategy, products’ research and developmentand innovation, technology improvement etc. duringa specific timeframe, i.e. the period of time is anexpanded timeframe, as the process outcomes areretrieved after years of activity.

The efforts undertaken within the organization’s func-tions, especially the marketing department, fordesigning and developing a brand, are directlyreflected in the brand equity, hence the concept canbe used not only for consolidating the business butalso for helping the organization to better exploit theopportunities and strengthen the existing brand with-in the market. In a dynamic economic environment,the concept of brand equity facilitates new means toimprove the decisional process, by identifying newalternatives to valorise the brand and solve relatedproblems to brand management [3].

Conceptual model developed for continuosimprovement of branding processThe importance of brand equity as an intangibleasset implies the continuous improvement of brand-ing process. Therefore, the authors have developeda complexed model, which aims to support industrialorganizations during their efforts regarding brandmanagement. As the current model comprises therequired steps for developing such a process, it canbe used by managers active on the industrial textileindustry as a guide attaining and maintaining com-petitive advantage. In this regard, for developing an efficient model forbranding process improvement within an industrialorganization, with a specific orientation towards strate-gic management, it is mandatory to permanentlyassess the brand equity. A crucial characteristic which the enterprise shouldtake into consideration when analysing its brand is itsdynamic property, i.e. a brand evolves based on theinternal and external factors; hence the ratio betweenthe brand’s strategic management process and orga-nization’s processes has also a dynamic behaviour.When considering the strategic management pro-cess, its particularities should be clearly emphasised,as the brand’s strategic management cannot beregarded only as a sequential flow of activities, withspecific inputs and outputs based on standards. However, the holistic view of the process remains avery important approach when analysing the varia-tions recorded by the organization’s processes.These fluctuations determine significant changes notonly on product’s attributes, but also on the percep-tion regarding the company, hence generating animmediate impact on the brand, with long-term con-sequences. The continuous measurement of brand equity can beregarded as a continuous method to continuouslyimprove the business processes, which according to,should be conducted on a constant-basis in order to[4]: • Identify the proper manner for the brand to meet

client’s requirements;• Identify the brand evolution against competition;• Identify the brand’s weaknesses before they mate-

rialise;• Identify the opportunities related to the brand in

order to enhance the added value.

Fig. 1. Brand Equity. Aaker Model


Therefore, undertaking a thorough and constantanalysis and measurement program regarding themarket conditions, clients’ expectations and percep-tion and financial results is mandatory for the organi-zation as it has a crucial role during the enterprise’sendeavours to fulfil its objectives. In this regard:• The metrics should be easy to use – time economy.• The metrics should quantify actions which can be

adjusted – the metric should measure a businessdecision; the focus should lie on the “need formeasurement” and not on the “it’s good enoughjust to measure something”.

• The metrics should measure a repetitive activity –in order to obtain results regarding an activity evo-lution, it has to be repetitive.

• The metrics should retrieve quantifiable results –in order to apply benchmarking process, hence tocompare the enterprises’ results with the competi-tion or the proposed objectives.

The problem with which the enterprises are con-fronting during this analysis is the miscorrelation ofcausal relationships between brand perception,brand performance and financial results. A thoroughunderstanding of demand’s key factors, as well asknowing the proper moment when the interactionconsumer-brand triggers the consumer’s impulse tochoose the brand over competition are key elementsfor achieving brand’s future success, i.e. understand-ing this aforementioned causal relationship betweenperception, performance and impact generates theinformation and knowledge regarding the key activi-ties which create value for the brand. Munoz, Kuma, have divided the metrics in three cat-egories, as described in table 1. Therefore, duringthis process it is not enough only to identify and plan

communication activities, but also operational, finan-cial and strategic activities, as follows [4]:• Connect the brand’s metrics with the business

strategy.• Identify the strategic objectives which can be influ-

enced by the brand.• Determine the main processes which are influ-

enced by the brand. The indicators which are subject to permanent anal-ysis are divided in three categories, each of themgenerating a specific characteristic of the efficiency ofbrand’s strategy:

a. Consumerb. Marketc. Financial

a. The indicators used for studying the brand againstthe consumer have been selected in order to retrievea complex overview of:

• Perception• Behaviour• Degree of knowledge

Hence, for describing the perception the followingindicators were used:

• Notoriety – the share of existing or potentialclients which were able to recognize a brand oran element of the brand;

• Attitude – clients’ attitude evaluation, i.e. exist-ing or potential clients, against a particularbrand,

• Perceived quality – clients’ attitude evaluationagainst brand’s quality.

Regarding the consumer’s behaviour towards thebrand, the following indicators were taking into con-sideration:

• Brand penetration – the ratio between theclients who have purchased the brand at least

Metrics for brand perception Metrics for brand performance Metrics for financialperformance

Knowledge Familiarity andconsideration

Acquisitiondecision Loyalty Value development

Are the consumersaware of the

brand?

What are the consumersthinking and feeling

regarding the brand?

What is thebehaviour of the

consumers?

How has the behaviourof the consumerschanged in time?

How does the consumer'sbehaviour impact the brand's

value development?

Standing out Distinction Acquisition Consumer'ssatisfaction Market share

Brand awareness Relevance Influence Retention Profit

Credibility Trial Win on the costumer Operational cash flow

Pleasure Repeatingacquisition Share of wallet Marketing budget share

Perceived quality PreferenceTotal values of

consumer'sacquisition (LTV)

Brand value

Shopping intention Premium price ROI Analysts' evaluationResemblance Reference

Cost saving

Table 1


Process involved Targeted factor Brand objective Brand strategy Recommended action

Research anddevelopment Innovation Development Generate brand

extension

Develop connected products in orderto provide the consumer a “completesolution” for the brand

Research anddevelopment Innovation Development Create favorable

associationsEnhanced attributes for brand’sassociated product

Research anddevelopment

Adjustmentaccording to market

needsDevelopment

Correlate theconsumers’

perception with theirexpectation

Develop adjacent attributes basedon the consumers’ existing trends

Research anddevelopment

Continuousimprovement Development

Market leaders’brands

Benchmarking

Develop brand’s attributes withproperties which are at least at thesame level with those of the marketleader’s brand

Production Product’s qualitystability Development Create loyalty toward

the brand

The stability of brand’s qualitygenerates trust and loyalty. Apermanent system for qualitymeasurement and failure prevention

Production Technologyimprovement

Brand equityenhancement

Profitabilityimprovement

As the production process is moreefficient and less expansive, thebrand’s quality and safety increase,hence improving the sales volumeand, therefore, the profit

Production Production plancompliance

Credibility -development

Create favorableassociations

Marketing plan compliance regardingbrand communication can beseriously affected by a miscorrelationbetween production process anddistribution process, resulting in ainefficient brand’s distribution

Human resource Training DevelopmentCreate a favorable

image regarding thecompany and product

Highly qualified human resource –efficient solutions and readly andhighly qualitative answers

Human resource Organizationalstructure adjustment Development Efficiency

An efficient and balancedorganizational structure leads theorganization towards progress

Supply Constant quality ofraw material Development Associations’ loyalty

The constant quality of raw materialdirectly reflects in the product’sconstant quality, which generateconsumer’s trust and, hence, loyalty

Supply Constant adjustmentof raw material prices Development Brand value

enhancement

Supply Continuous flow -avoid bottlenecks Development

Create a favorableimage regarding the

company and product

Avoiding bottlenecks leads to acontinuous production flow, whichimplies an efficient distribution andproduction plan compliance – anadditional trust and loyalty

Marketing Price Development In time connectionwith market reality

An efficient price policy generatessales and profit enhancement

Marketing Innovation Development Create brandextensions

A complex and efficient analysisallows for a proper identification ofmarket niches, as well as relatedand uncovered market segments,i.e. new market opportunities

Marketing Distribution channels Development Create brand valuePermanent identification ofdistribution channels connected withconsumer’s trends and habits

Marketing CIM Design -Development

Financial Budgets Design -Development

Defining a realistic and completebrand budget, which is correlatedwith organization’s development plan

Financial Brand Cash flow Design -Development

Providing the required cash-flow tosupport constant flow of brand activities

Table 2

once and the total number of clients within aparticular segment;

• The number of clients – the number of clientswho have purchased the brand during a specif-ic timeframe;

• Recent expenditure – the recorded timeframebetween two acquisitions of the brand by thesame consumer;

• The rate of attracting new clients – the ratiobetween the number of newly attracted clientsand the existing clients in a particular time-frame.

The degree of knowledge is quantified based on AAUindex – Awareness attitude and usage, as previ-ously described.b. The indicators for market analysis were identifiedin such manner to allow for a continuous analysis andalso to depict a complete and complex overview ofthe case (table 2). These metrics are structured infour categories:

• Distribution• Competition• Volume • Price

Therefore, distribution metrics include: • Numeric distribution – number of stores in

which the brand is distributed;• The quality of distribution – evaluate the quality

of distribution channels regarding a particularbrand;

• The equity brand index allows for a properquantification of the brand’s position on themarket against current competition.

The market volume index is defined by:• The market’s total volume – the total units

sold by each brand active on the market;• Volumetric market share – the ratio between

the total volume of units sold by the brand andthe total volume of the market;

• The total quantity of sales of a brand.The price evolution of a particular brand is quantifiedbased on the relative average price, i.e. the ratiobetween the average price of a brand and the aver-age price of all existing brands on the market [5]. c. The evaluation of the brand’s financial evolution isbased on a set of metrics which are structured in fourmain categories:

• Financial value • Sales • Marketing expenditure • Profit

Regarding the financial value of a brand in a particu-lar time point, the relevant metrics include:

• The total value of the market – the cumulativevalue of sales recorded by each brand, which isactive on a market;

• The market share value – the ratio between abrand’s turnover and the total volume of salesrecorded by all brands active on the market.

However, from the financial perspective of sales, themost relevant indicator which enables to capture the

overall evolution of the business in a specific time-frame is the total volume of sales. The performance of marketing expenditure is depict-ed by the market share of marketing budget, i.e.the ratio between the brand’s marketing budget andthe cumulative value of the marketing budgetsrecorded by all the existing brands on the currentmarket [6]. Depending on the in-depth of the analysis regardingmarketing expenditure, there are efficiency indicatorswhich can retrieve more insight regarding this indica-tor’s performance. In order to determine the profit’s evolution, it ismandatory to reason about financial indicators andsuch, to assess the brand’s net profit or gross profit.This particular evolution is, hence, correlated withspecific efficiency measures in order to allow theenterprise to develop a coherent plan for brandingprocess improvement. The conceptual model is a powerful tool whichenables to depict the interaction between the enter-prise’s branding process and the organization’s mainprocesses, i.e. the core engine for continuousimprovement of branding process, and therefore, themain driver for a sustainable enhancement of theindustrial enterprise’s overall performance (figure 2). The general plan for continuous improvement basedon the analysis of the aforementioned indicators,allows for gaining in-depth insight, and hence, a valu-able input when developing strategies regarding spe-cific processes on which the enterprise should focusits effort by sustainably channelling its resources inorder to obtain an efficient outcome.

CONCLUSIONS“Branding has become, in organizations that use pro-cess approach, a holistic process whose influence onother processes and depending on other processesmay be an important determinant of success or fail-ure of an organization. Enhanced economic develop-ment and globalization have increased the value thatbrands bring to companies. The brand has becomean intangible asset of the company that far exceedsthe value of tangible assets. Brands are traded andbrands are those that establish the price of a compa-ny. For a long time brands from industrial organiza-tions, including textile and leather industry, operatingin the B2B sector have been regarded as insignificantwhen judged against their target group. Experiencehas shown that large companies’ brands both operat-ing in B2B markets and the B2C markets, have a sig-nificant role for creating long-term competitive advan-tage” [7].By constantly analysing the environment based onthe three main directions which influence the branddevelopment, i.e. financial, market and consumer,and also by linking the branding process with otherorganizational processes, the model allows man-agers of the textile industry to gain knowledgeregarding market requirements, as well as to betterunderstand the factors which led the organization


towards the current position that their brand holds inconsumers’ preferences. The model has been successfully applied in aRomanian industrial organization, managed to main-tain the premium brand of the company as a marketleader. The model opens up new prospects for main-taining competitive advantage and enables man-agers in textile industry to maintain a permanentupward trend for their companies.To create added value in a market as unstable as inthe textile industry, it is important to have a strongbrand present in the minds of consumers – BrandAwareness. It is also important that consumer-brand

relationship to be a strong one, and the associationsto be favourable. This process of knowledge andanalysis is favoured by the proposed model andopens a perspective to streamline and focus theefforts of marketing and communication of an indus-trial company [8]. Each action of the model helps tocreate added value for brand success.

Acknowledgements“This work is supported by the Sectorial OperationalProgramme Human Resources Development (SOP HRD),financed from the European Social Fund and theRomanian Government under the contract numberPOSDRU/159/1.5/S/137390/.“


Fig. 2. The conceptual model of continuous improvement of the process of branding


BIBLIOGRAPHY

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[2] Srivastava R., Reibstein D.J., Joshi Y.V. Linking Marketing Metrics to Financial Performance, In: ZIBS ResearchReports, Emory University, 2008

[3] Keller, L.K. Building Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity, In: Pretince Hall, International Edition, ISBN0-13-110583-3, 2005

[4] Munoz T., Kumar S. Brands Metrics: Gauging and Linking Brands With Business Performance, In: Henry StewartPublications, Brans Management, 2004, vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 381–387

[5] Keller, L.K., Lehmann D. The Brand Value Chain: Optimizing Strategic and Financial Brand Performance, In:Marketing Management, (May/June), 2003

[6] Kotler, P., Pfoertsch, W. Business-to-Business Brand Management, In: Bucharest, Brandbuilders, 2011[7] Negoita, O., Ghituleasa C., Purcarea, A.A., Negoita, O. Branding Process – an important factor in guiding the

company towards success, In: Industria textila, no. 2, 2015, pp. 103–107[8] Negoita, O., Purcarea, A.A., Negoita, O. Brand – an important company asset in front of crisis challenges, In:

Proceedings of The 3rd Review of Management and Economic Engineering Management Conference“Management of Crisis or Crisis of Management, 15th – 17th, September, 2012, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Author:

Dr. OCTAVIAN ION NEGOIŢĂ1

Lect. dr. OLIVIA DOINA NEGOITA1

Prof. dr. eng. ANCA ALEXANDRA PURCAREA1

Dr. eng. CARMEN GHITULEASA2

1 University Politehnica of BucharestFaculty of Entrepreneurship, Business Engineering and Management

313 Splaiul Independenței Street, Bucharest, Romaniae-mail: [email protected]

2 Institutul Naţional de Cercetare Dezvoltare pentru Textile şi Pielărie16 Lucretiu Patrascanu Street, Bucharest, Romania


OCTAVIAN ION NEGOIŢĂe-mail: [email protected]

WHY DO WE NEED GLOBAL STRATEGIES?One of the defining characteristics of contemporarysociety is change in a general sense, manifested onall levels of human activity. It directly affects the con-duct of activities of organizations required to shape,adapt to new conditions which appear in its internaland external environment, changes brought mainlyby scientific and technical progress, nationally andworldwide acute competition, changing con sumerneeds and expectations, but also the trends mani-fested in the economy and society [1]. Every manager has to ask himself questions regard-ing the advantages that allowed his success in thepast and those that sustain his business in the pre-sent, because this way he is able to judge the advan-tages that will ensure his future success [2].Implementing organizational strategies has a positiveimpact on increasing efficiency and improving itsmanagerial performances, reflected in a better abilityto identify and respond to changes in the organiza-tion's external environment and increased competi-tiveness; hence the need to implement organization-al strategies and practice of strategic management[3]. Strategy can be defined as the major objectives

of the organization as a whole over the long term, themain ways of achieving with the resources allocated,in order to obtain competitive advantage according tothe organization's mission [4]. The strategy showshow the organization operates, how it uses theresources to fulfil its mission, in compliance with thepolicy which it has defined.Strategic management is a dynamic process, inwhich, via strategic decisions, company managersforesee and ensure future company changes, underthe impact of environmental endogenic and exogenicconstraints [2]. According to Kerzner strategic plan-ning process to prepare decisions on the future direc-tion of the organization is vital to its survival becauseit helps to adapt to a changing environment, beingapplicable to all managerial levels and all types oforganizations [5]. Development and implementationof strategic management in Romania is a necessity,but its transformation into reality is still a seriousproblem. We need more intelligence and creativity todevelop policies and strategies that would contributeto a real change [6]. Although the above theoretical approach enjoys widerecognition among specialists and internationallythere was conducted a number of studies to support

Why T&C companies need to develop global strategies?Empirical evidences on the influence of the organization's global strategy

on its competitiveness and performances

SIMONA CĂTĂLINA ȘTEFAN DAN MIRICESCUADRIANA GIURGIU CRISTINA VLĂSCEANUMARIA-MADELA ABRUDAN


De ce este necesară dezvoltarea strategiilor globale de către companiile de T&C?Dovezi empirice cu privire la influența strategiei globale asupra competitivității și performanțelor organizaţiei

Această lucrare are ca scop studierea particularităților utilizării strategiei și managementului strategic în cadrul firmelordin România, precum și influența pe care acestea le-ar putea avea asupra competitivității și performanțelor managerialeși economice. Informațiile necesare pentru acest studiu au fost obţinute prin intermediul unui sondaj la care au participat1595 respondenți din 93 de firme din sud-estul României. În urma analizei datelor prin intermediul IBM SPSS 23.0Statistics, ambele ipoteze ale cercetării au fost validate. Luând în considerare limitările care decurg din caracterul destudiu pilot, rezultatele obținute sunt de natură să constituie baza unor cercetări viitoare.

Cuvinte-cheie: competitivitate, ipoteze, performanță, strategie, studiu

Why T&C companies need to develop global strategies?Empirical evidences on the influence of the organization's global strategy on its competitiveness

and performances

This paper aims at studying the peculiarities of strategy and strategic management within Romanian firms and theinfluence they might have on managerial and economic performances and competitiveness in order to create premisesfor increasing their competitiveness and performances. The necessary information for this study was collected througha survey attended by 1595 respondents from 93 companies located in south-east Romania. After analysing the data bymeans of IBM SPSS 23.0 Statistics statistical program, most of the research hypotheses were validated. Taking intoconsideration its limitations, the results open future research directions.

Keywords: competitiveness, hypotheses, performance, strategy, survey


them, there are available little or no empirical dataaddressed this issue referring to Romania [7–9]. Forinstance, on a sample of 200 SMEs in North-WestRomania, into the structure of which prevails thefirms with up to 10 employees and less than 5 yearsold and using a partially different methodology, couldnot report a significant correlation between theaggregate indicator of strategic planning and aggre-gate indicator of performances, but only partial corre-lations [10].

WHY GLOBAL STRATEGIES WITHIN T&CCOMPANIES?The clothing industry in Romania is a branch with along tradition in export of a diversified product mix,ranks second in exports of Romania, fourth in the EUclothing exports, focuses the largest number of SMEsin the industry and a considerable number of employ-ees [2]. In the post-crisis conditions and given the increasingcompetition on the national and international market,the textile and garments companies are forced toidentify potential factors able to increase their perfor-mances and competitiveness. We believe that this isa good reason (in addition to the well-known theoret-ical approach) to provide the same empirical evi-dences on the peculiarities of strategy and strategicmanagement within Romanian organizations and theinfluence they might have on their managerial andeconomic performances and competitiveness inorder to create premises for increasing the competi-tiveness and performances of Romanian organiza-tions (figure 1). In this respect, we have defined a setof four research hypotheses, as follows:H1. The development of firm's global strategy is influ-

enced by its region of origin, age and size.H2. Developing the firm's global strategy has a posi-

tive impact on its managerial performances.H3. Developing the firm's global strategy has a posi-

tive impact on its economic performances.H4. Developing the firm's global strategy has a posi-

tive impact on its competitiveness.

METHODOLOGYDesign and samplingThe methodology developed for the purpose of thisresearch involved the following steps: (1) formulatingresearch hypotheses, (2) questionnaire design,based on the independent and dependent variablesnecessary in order to test the research hypotheses,(3) choosing the investigated populations, (4) select-ing the sample of respondents, (5) collecting and pro-cessing information with the technical support of IBMSPSS Statistics 23.0 statistical program and (6) test-ing the research hypotheses in order to confirm orinvalidate them [11]. This research method enjoyedgreat interest in the last few years in the area ofsocial and human sciences, in general, and particu-larly in management.In order to collect the necessary data for this study itwas designed a questionnaire based survey con-ducted in March – May 2015 addressed to 93 firmsfrom south-eastern Romania, namely Bucharest –Ilfov, South and South-East regions, selected througha non-probabilistic sampling method. Depending onits size, from each company a number of respon-dents with both managerial and executive positionswere selected. Of the 93 companies, 4.3% had lessthan 10 employees 26.9% between 10 and 49,32.3% between 50 and 249, and 36.6% more than250 employees. When referring to firms' age, 4.3%were younger than 5 years old, 16.1% were between5 and 10 years, 25.8% between 10 and 15 years and53.8% over 15 years old.The questionnaire was divided in two parts. Part I,contained questions concerning the characteristics ofinvestigated companies and Part II serves the mostdirect purpose of the research, being aimed to cap-ture the specific aspects of strategy and strategicmanagement within Romanian organizations as wellas the influence they might have on managerial andeconomic performances.To achieve the research objectives and given thenature of the analysed variables there was performedboth univariate and bivariate analysis (mean, stan-dard deviation, absolute and relative frequency,ANOVA, correlation and regression analysis and fac-tor analysis by means of IBM SPSS 23.0 Statisticsstatistical program.

VariablesTo validate research hypotheses, first we built fouraggregate variables based on primary variablesdefined on the responses to the questionnaire items: 1. Str – the aggregate indicator of strategy, built on

six primary variables defined on the questionnaireresponses to six statement corresponding to thesix components of the strategy. On a five-pointLikert scale, responses ranged from 1 – StronglyDisagree to 5 – Strongly Agree. (1) Mis – Missionreflect the views of management about what to doand what the organization wants to become onlong-term (M = 4.0328), (2) Obj – Organization'sgoals are broken down for each department and


Fig. 1. Research hypothesesSource: own representation

position (M = 3.7955), (3) StrO – To achievestrategic objectives there are appropriate meansof action (M = 3.7295), (4) Res – The organizationhas the human, material, information and financialresources necessary to achieve strategic objec-tives (M = 3.8757), (5) Ter – Are stipulated dead-lines to accomplish objectives (M = 3.9850) andCompA.

2. ManP – the aggregate indicator of managerial per-formances, built on three primary variables: (1)ManPT – managerial performances comparedwith the targets set, (2) ManPC – managerial per-formances compared with main competitors and(3) ManPY – managerial performances comparedto five years ago. Responses were recorded on afive-point scale, where 1 = Much less good and5 = Much better.

3. EcP – the aggregate indicator of economic perfor-mances, built on three primary variables: (1) EcPT– economic performances compared with the tar-gets set, (2) EcPC – economic performances com-pared with main competitors and (3) EcPY – eco-nomic performances compared to five years ago.

4. Comp – the aggregate indicator of competitive-ness, built on three primary variables: (1) CompT– competitiveness level compared with the targetsset, (2) CompC – competitiveness level comparedwith main competitors and (3) CompY – competi-tiveness level compared to five years ago.

Principal component analysisSince we want that the four aggregate variablesreflect as closely as possible the information con-tained in the primary variables, we employed a factoranalysis procedure: extraction method – PrincipalComponent Analysis and rotation method – Varimaxwith Kaiser Normalization.The high values of Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient ofreliability (.07), presented on the third column of table1, mean that there is evidence that the individual indi-cators measure the same underlying construct[12–13]. Furthermore, the significant Bartlett's Test ofSphericity (p < .01) and the overall Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure (KMO) of Sampling Adequacy (dis-played on the fourth column of table 1) means that allfour our datasets are suitable for factor analysis [14].Following the procedure described above, of the sixprimary variables representing components of strate-gy was extracted only one component withEigenvalue greater than 1, which cumulates 70.155%of the initial variability of all the six original variablesand is strongly and positively correlated with each ofthem: mission (.796), objectives (.850), strategicoptions (.857), resources (.841) and terms (.844). From the three primary variables related to manage-rial performances was extracted only one componentwith eigenvalue greater than 1, which cumulates75.861% of the initial variability of all the three origi-nal variable and is strongly and positively correlatedwith each of them: managerial performances com-pared with the targets set (.909), managerial perfor-mances compared with main competitors (.883) and

managerial performances compared to five yearsago (.819). Following the same procedure, from the three prima-ry variables related to economic performances it wasextracted one component too with Eigenvaluegreater than 1, which cumulates 66.974% of the ini-tial variability of all the three original variable and isstrongly and positively correlated with each of them:economic performances compared with the targetsset (.909), economic performances compared withmain competitors (.895) and economic performancescompared to five years ago (.618). Finally, from the three primary variables related tocompetitiveness it was extracted only one compo-nent with Eigenvalue greater than 1, which cumu-lates 78.862% of the initial variability of all the threeoriginal variable and is strongly and positively corre-lated with each of them: competitiveness level com-pared with the targets set (.925), competitivenesslevel compared with main competitors (.899) andecon competitiveness level compared to five yearsago (.838).

Using Bartlett method, we produced componentscores which will be used in further analyses.Therefore, using the values from the componentscore coefficient matrix, we built the followingequations:

Str = (.227)Mis + (.242)Obj + (.244)StrO ++ (.240)Res + (.240)Ter (1)

ManP = (.399)ManT + (.388)ManC ++ (.360)ManPY (2)

EcP = (.453)EcPT + (.445)EcPC + (.308)EcPY (3)

Comp = (.391)CompT + (.380)CompC ++ (.354)CompY (4)

RESULTS AND ANALYSESTesting H1 hypothesis

H1. The development of firm's global strategy isinfluenced by its region of origin, age and size.

Next we were interested in whether there aresignificant differences in terms of the aggregatevariable of strategy (Str) according to differentcharacteristics of firms: country region, age and size:• Grouping firms by country region (table 2, third

column and figure 2) mean scores are statisticallydifferent as determined by one-way ANOVA(F2,98 = 3.646, p = .030). Thus, the highest mean


Cronbach’sAlpha KMO Items Eigenvalue % of

variance1 Str .892 .796 5 3.508 70.1552 ManP .833 .694 3 2.276 75.8613 EcP .735 .585 3 2.009 66.9744 Comp .860 .700 3 2.366 78.862

Table 1

Source: made by authors with SPSS 23.0

scores have the firms from Bucharest – Ilfov(M = .127), followed by those from South-East(M = –.378) and South (M = –.685).

• Considering the age of the analysed firms, as onecan see in table 2, fourth column and figure 3, themean scores of aggregate variable of strategy arealso statistically different (F3,88 = 4.860, p = .004).Thus, companies older than 15 years (M = –.350)have a significantly lower mean score of aggregatevariable of strategy than those Between 10 and15 years old (M = .3801) and those between 5 and10 years old (M = .4353) as a Tukey post-hoc testrevealed statistically significant differences betweentheir mean scores (p = .013) and respectively(p = .029). The same Tukey post-hoc test revealedno significant differences between the meanscores for other comparisons between groups offirms.

• As one can see in table 2, last column, the meanscores of aggregate variables of strategy are notinfluenced by firms' size (F3,88 =1.215, p = .309).

In conclusion, if we were to sketch a profile of orga-nizations which develop organizational strategies,considering the above characteristics, they should belocated in Bucharest – Ilfov and aged between 5 and10 years.

Testing H2 – H4 hypothesesH2. Developing the firm's global strategy has a

positive impact on its managerial perfor-mances.

H3. Developing the firm's global strategy has apositive impact on its economic performances.

H4. Developing the firm's global strategy has apositive impact on its competitiveness.

In order to test H2, H3 and H4 hypotheses, weemployed the simple linear regression. Linear regres-sion determines the value of a dependent variablebased on its linear relationship to one or more inde-pendent variables (predictors) as it is described in thefollowing formula [13]:

yi = b0 + b1x1i + b2x2i + ... + bkxki + ei (5)

In this case, the dependent variables are ManP –managerial performances, EcP – economic perfor-mances and Comp – competitiveness and predictor(independent variables) is Str – strategy with the lin-ear specifications as there are presented in table 3,second column. As one can see in table 3, second row, in case of thefirst variable (ManP), F = 94.011 and p < .01 showsthat at least one of the independent variables are


No. Regression equation Constant Coefficients t R2 Adj. R2 F Sig.

1 ManPi = f (Stri) + ei .008 .716** 9.696 .511 .505 94.011 .000

2 EcPi = f (Stri) + ei .008 .664** 8.400 .439 .433 70.561 .000

3 Compi = f (Stri) + ei .007 .693** 9.076 .478 .472 82.415 .000

Table 3

** Significant at the .01 levelSource: made by authors with SPSS 23.0

Fig. 2. The mean scores of aggregate variableof strategy by country region


Fig. 3. The mean scores of aggregate variableof strategy by firm's age


No. Countryregion

Firm'sage

Firm'ssize

1The aggregate

variable ofstrategy (Str)

F = 3.646*p = .030

F = 4.860**p = .004

F = 1.215p = .309

Table 2

** Significant at .01 level, * Significant at .05 levelSource: made by authors with SPSS 23.0

related to the dependent variable, therefore themodel is valid. The independent variable coefficienthas a value of .716 statistically significant at .01 level(t = 9.696, p = .0000), so the independent variable Stris significantly related to the dependent variableManP. Moreover, the coefficient of determination hasa medium value (R2 = .511), which mean that approx-imately 51.1% of the variance of ManP could beexplained by Str. Therefore, developing the firm'sglobal strategy has a positive impact on its manage-rial performances.For the second regression equation (F = 70.561,p < .01) it can be seen that the independent variablehas a statistically significant influence on EcP (t =8.400, p < .01), 43.9% from its variance could beexplained by Str. Besides that, the regression coeffi-cient has a positive value (.664), thus we can statethat developing the firm's global strategy has a posi-tive impact on its economic performances.Finally, in respect for the third regression equation(F = 82.415, p <.01) one can see that the indepen-dent variable (Str) has a statistically significant influ-ence on the dependent one (Comp) (t = 9.076,p < .01) as 47.8% from its variance could beexplained by Str. Furthermore, the regression coeffi-cient has a positive value (.693), thus we can statethat developing the firm's global strategy has a posi-tive impact on its competitiveness.Thus, the regression equations are as follows:

ManP = .008 + (.716)Str + e (6)

EcP = .008 + (.664)Str + e (7)

Comp = .0087 + (.693)Str + e (8)The results of research hypotheses testing are pre-sented in figure 4.As we expected, aggregate variable of strategy (Str)has a positive influence on all three dependent vari-ables (ManP, EcP and Comp – figure 4) . The finalcoefficients of determination were .511, .437 and.478, indicating that approximately 51.1% of the vari-ability organizations' managerial performances,43.9% of the variability its economic performancesand 47.8% of the variability competitiveness could beexplained by the variability of aggregate variable ofstrategy. This is a fairly decent amount of variabilityexplained by the model, considering that the out-comes may be influenced by a number of other fac-tors which however does not subject of our study.

CONCLUSIONSThe main results of the research are consistent withthe theoretical approach and confirmed most of theresearch hypotheses:• Hypothesis 1 is partially supported. The develop-

ment of firm's global strategy is influenced by thecountry region of origin (F = 3.646, p = .030) andage (F = 4.860, p = .004) but not by its size(F = 1.215, p = .309). If we were to sketch a profileof firms which develop overall strategies, consider-ing the above characteristics, they should be locat-ed in Bucharest – Ilfov and aged between 5 and10 years.

• Hypothesis 2 is also supported. Developing thefirm's global strategy has a positive impact on itsperformances and competitiveness since approxi-mately 51.1% of the variability of firms' managerialperformances, 43.9% of the economic perfor-mances and 47.8% of the competitiveness couldbe explained by the variability of aggregate vari-able of strategy.

Being a pilot study, it involves certain limitations thatmake its results cannot be extrapolated to the nation-al level. Consequently, most of our results should betested on a more representative sample, both interms of number of firms and their territorial distribu-tion [11]. Also, future research should consider all theelements of strategic management process as deter-minants of performances and competitiveness.


Fig. 4. The influence of the firm's strategyon its competitiveness and performances

Source: own representation

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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[12] Cronbach, L. J. Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests, In: Psychometrika, 1951, issue 16, pp. 297–334. [13] Popa, I., Ștefan, S. C. 'Why do some nations succeed and others fail in international competition?' Factor analysis

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Authors:

PhD Candidate SIMONA CĂTĂLINA ȘTEFAN1

PhD Associate Professor ADRIANA GIURGIU2

PhD Associate Professor MARIA-MADELA ABRUDAN2

PhD Associate Professor DAN MIRICESCU3

PhD Teaching Assistant CRISTINA VLĂSCEANU1

1 The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Faculty of Management, Bucharest, Romaniae-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

2 University of Oradea, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Oradea, Romaniae-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

3 “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, Sibiu, Romaniae-mail: [email protected]


SIMONA CĂTĂLINA ȘTEFANe-mail: [email protected]

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